Ever Stay Autumn
by NoshMono
Summary: Autumn, post Jinchuu's arc. Many events occured, changing Kenshin, and with him, the others. A Kaoru and Kenshin story. Chapter 27: The final moment of calm.
1. Prolog : The rise of Orochi

**DISCLAIMER. **

**All your Rurouni Kenshin base are belong to Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shounen Jump, Sony and Anime Works. **

**The above general disclaimer applies to this page and all subsequent pages that follow this page, associatively, chronologically, spatially or by any other associations. **

Loosely speaking, everyone mentioned up there and unmentioned right holders own alls the rights to the Rurouni Kenshin series. 

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**Suenagaku na Aki (Ever Stay Autumn)**

**Prolog**

He ran toward the gate of his house as fast as he could. Never mind his lungs were burning for air. He had to reach home. Fast. Not bothering to stop to open the gate properly, he rammed into it, hurting his left shoulder in the process. The gate was not important, he thought to himself. A new one can be installed later after he made sure that everything was alright. The injured shoulder? What injured shoulder? 

He quickly glanced around his house compound. Nothing seemed out of order. "Maybe I'm being a bit paranoid", he thought to himself. He stepped toward the front door. "Hanae, I am home", he called to his wife. But there was no answer. "Father?" There was still no answer. "Sakura?" His heart skipped a beat. What if something had happened to his family? Then he remembered something. His father did mention that he would be taking the rest of the family out into town today. He smiled as he remembered that the announcement was followed with a long-winded lecture on how to take care of his family. He admitted to himself, he hadn't been a good family man in these days. But who could be? The whole of Japan was still embroiled in a massive civil war and his father wanted him to take them out for lunch? But war or no war, tomorrow he will take them out to see the puppet theatre his daughter wanted to see so much.

He opened the door. The first thing he saw were the bloodied bodies. It seemed like an eternity as his brain tried to tell him about whom the bloodied bodies belong to. A savage scream shook the whole area. It was not unlike those of a wounded animal. Then he broke down and cried like a child, sobbing uncontrollably.

****************************************

"Master, the Ishin Shishi approached us for an alliance" 

"An alliance?" He kept quiet for a few seconds, thinking, while glancing at the map on the wall. "They're winning, and the Tokugawa faction has made a grave mistake", he said quietly.

"Why do you say that, Master? The Bakufu only lost a few minor provinces" Shingo protested.

"To them, the provinces are of no geographical advantage, but that is another one of their mistake, which is to misjudge the importance of these places" The man turned toward Shingo. Shingo opened his mouth to say something but then he continued, "The provinces are located next to the pivotal provinces they wanted so much to keep. Plus, the lost provinces are actually easier to defend, and although they're not rich in minerals, they have an ample supply of manpower. Swords without people to wield them will not be useful, but people without swords will always try to make one" He continued looking at the map. "Tell them we agree to their request"

"But aren't we're supposed to be neutral? Hundred of years have passed by since your forefathers started this clan, with it only existing in the shadow of the government"

"Shingo, in this turbulent time, one can't choose to be neutral. Too much is at stake. I know of this through personal experience. History is being written, bonds and promises are being broken. We have the choice of whether to help write history or not" Another quiet minute passed before he spoke again. "Tell them we want full access to their intelligence, so that we can help them in the strategy planning. And tell our lowest-ranking agents to report to them"

"Yes, Master"

****************************************

He stood on top of the hill which overlooked the battlefield. Blood stench wafted through the area; buildings are burnings as what remains of the two clashing armies tried to finish each other. He heard a horse galloping from behind him. He knew who it was. "We managed to repulse the Tokugawa army, but at a terrible price", Shingo reported to him. "How many of the men died?" 

"Our men or the combined force's men?"

"Both"

"146 of our men died while 431 were injured. As for the combined force, two thirds either died or injured"

"Very good"

****************************************

He sat idly by his koi pond feeding his carps, something he normally do to relax his mind. He looked heavenward, whispering a silent prayer.

"It is a beautiful night, isn't? I believe you don't mind dying on such a peaceful night such as this one" A female voice interrupted his stupor. Not many people has the ability to sneak up on him undetected. This woman is one of that few. He just smiled and look toward her kneeled form. 

"Yes, I believe so. But not as beautiful as you. And to tell you the truth, I would prefer to die when I'm with you" Despite being train not to show emotions, the woman couldn't help blushing. He noticed it. "Ah, even you have minor problems now and them" He chuckled. His tone then turned serious. "Everything went as planned?"

"Yes. And as predicted by you, they will appoint Hitotsubashi Keiki as the next shogun tomorrow morning"

"Very good. He's a good man. But, pity he is on the other side. Nevertheless, I am sure he recognizes the danger of involving the foreigners in our country's problem. Now I need someone to convince him to step down"

"If I may suggest, we can enlist Tosa's lord to help persuade him to resign"

He clasped his hands together. "You're right! I will contact him tomorrow. As for you, I want you to find out how much information does our allies have on us"

"It will be done" In a flash the shadow disappeared and the man continued his musing. 

****************************************

He stood quietly as he watched the principal lords are being briefed on the restoration of the Imperial rule. He knew that after that announcement, there will be another one on the transfer of Japan's capital from Kyoto to Edo. Among those present was Shingo who came as the 'leader' of his group. The Ishin Shishi didn't know the real leader behind the group that had helped them to achieve control of Japan. Not that he wanted them to know.

As he looked on, he noted that there were many people with powerful kenki present. Obviously they belong to the hidden guards the Ishin Shishi arranged to oversee the safety of the whole proceeding, or they belong to those with hostile intention of disrupting it. Then he felt one of the kenki disappeared. He smiled as he felt the ki of one of his men who was near to the one that had disappeared. One of the troublemakers has been dealt with, and he's sure the others will not be so keen to try now. As if on cue, Shingo nodded his head, signaling him. Another smile creased his face, this time an unreadable one.

****************************************

As he sat on a log near a river, he hummed to himself. Suddenly he smiled. "I think this is the first time I was able to detect you coming"

The shadow that was on a tree nodded her head. "I don't know whether I should be disappointed at myself or proud of you, my lord"

The man let out a small laugh. "Do not be hard on yourself. I saw your reflection in the river. Anyway, have you managed to find out who did it?"

"Yes" A slightly hesitant tone escaped from her. 

"It was done by the Ishin Shishi, is it not?"

"Yes"

He put up his right hand to cover his face. A few seconds passed in silence. With his hand still on his face, he sighed. "Only after years passed by can I confirm my suspicions. And the assassins?"

"Local hoodlums hired by someone posing as Tokugawa agent with enough money for a week's visit at the local geisha house"

He coughed. "Very clever. As a Tokugawa agent, just in case I sought revenge at that time. How did you find out about this?"

"The agent may be willing to die for the Ishin Shishi, but he's unable to tolerate the torture being inflicted by our 'friendly' interrogator"

"And the hoodlums?"

"We managed to capture all of them; their families were left alone, just like you instructed. Our own geishas are giving them the 'entertainment' of their life right now. Would you like to see them?"

The right hand lowered from his face. "No. Just kill them after our people are through. And make sure to make it look like an accident or mishap" He began to leave the riverside.

"One of our men asked whether we can feed them alive to his dogs"

"Ahh. Ukyo's always wanted his dogs to have the best food. Sure, but I think the dogs will choke unless the pieces are small enough. And I wonder whether he would like his dogs to eat something so repulsive. They may get indigestion"

****************************************

"Congratulations, Master! You have achieved what you set up to do", Shingo congratulated him. 

Shingo's congratulary message was received with a quizzical look. "What do you mean by 'set up to do', Shingo?," he questioned.

"Well, you did say that we can either choose to write history or not, and we have done it…" Shingo replied uncertainly.

He shook his head in incredulity. "You have a lot to learn. History is being written as long as there are living things. Of course there will be 'important history' or 'not important history'; but the point is, new history will be happening everyday. As for what I set out to do, I am afraid I have yet to achieve it"

"Eh? I...."

"I have yet to exact my revenge" The words were accompanied with hate so intense that it was the first time Shingo felt fear in front of his master. Sweat trickled down his cheeks as he tried to explain to himself what had happened that caused his master to be this angry. Then he recalled hearing about his master's family being slaughtered in cold blood. But, aside from stories from other people, he hasn't heard his master mention anything about it at all, not even once. He raised his head slowly, as if expecting it to be separated from his body. He only saw his master's eyes looking at him.

"Shingo, I am not as kind as you thought I am. That part of me died years ago when my family was murdered. Before that, I always believed that no matter how much the two opposing sides despised each other; they would never resort to something as cruel as this. But I was young and foolish. That foolishness cost me my family. And the irony of it is, at that time I was neutral. Every day I heard the two sides reminding themselves how it was necessary to be mad and crazy, so that a new era could be forged. A fallacy to make themselves feel right about what they were doing"

"The only thing that has kept me going through that turbulence time is to exact revenge on my family's murderers and those who are responsible. Now that I know who they are I have another goal to be accomplished, which is to undo everything they have done. I will take over Japan from those Ishin Shishi scums in front of their own eyes before killing them. Only then will my revenge be complete" 

Despite being afraid a second ago, Shingo could not resist questioning him. "The Ishin Shishi? But why did you help them when you knew that they were behind the attack? We could have killed them all by ourselves"

"At that time I was not sure they had done it. Anyway, if we fought against them at that time, it will be harder to win. Surely the Bakufu would have taken advantage of the fight. We would have been like a wolf fighting with two ferocious tigers at the time. But now that one of the tigers is gone, and the other one has become weaker and complacent, it should be easier to win," He put his hand on Shingo's shoulder. "So, Shingo, I believe it is time for me to let you go. There is no need for you to get involved in this personal matter of mine. Just forget about your oath to serve me; I release you from it"

"Why do you say that? Do you think I will betray you?"

"No. You are my only family member," the reply was short, but deep in meaning.

Shingo clenched his hands. "Then…," he said emotionally, "let me join you in your fight to topple the Meiji government"

****************************************

"Shingo, A golden opportunity afforded us with a good chance to strike. Although we have managed to kill a few of them, now we will have a good opportunity to kill all of the Ishin Shishi's bastards. Their best swordsman, Himura Battousai, left the group years ago, and a large scale manhunt is being carried out to find his replacement, " he said with a satisfied smile.

"Shishio? But I thought he was killed"

"No. That news was merely something to pacify their lower ranking officers. Have you not seen the reward posters for a crazed killer on the run from the police? They wanted everybody to help them to catch Shishio without revealing who he was. Very cunning of them, don't you think? Anyway, I've already sent Ukyo to help in the search"

Shingo wondered what his master's plans were for by sending Ukyo, one of the powerful Kensais (Sword Saints) to help with the search. He admitted that Ukyo's dogs could help in the search, but why did his master want to help his enemies?. His questioning look was noticed.

"I am merely convincing them that we are loyal to them. After all, we are 'grateful' for the posts given to us"

Shingo's curiosity was satisfied with that statement. But then another question hit him. The absence of Battousai and his replacement Shishio will make his master's plan easier to execute, but it was still quite risky; his master was known as a man who thought of everything beforehand.

"It has come to my attention that Saigo Takamori, one of our former allies against the Bakufu, is going to launch a revolt in the Satsuma province. Thus, the government security force will be mobilized to put down the revolt. With Shishio running around, and Saigo leading a revolt, there will be fewer guards for the government's annual meeting in Tokyo this Sunday. The meeting is important in the sense that everybody will be attending, unlike those of the previous years. A decisive assassination of the government officials attending this meeting will be enough to cripple the government. We will send a team of 50 trained assassins to wipe them out. And I will personally lead them. After the assassination, the rest of 15 kensai will subjugate the government machineries" 

"Master?"

"Yes, Shingo?"

"I would be honored if I'm given the chance to lead the assassination attack. I wouldn't want to see your hands bloodied when you take over the Japan. Anyway I think that you're inclined to agree that it will easier to control the people if you're free from bad reputation"

Upon hearing Shingo's request, the man's face changed a bit. After pondering on the request he replied, "Very well. I will wait for your good news" 

****************************************

"What the hell happened?! Did the police manage to find out our plans?" He demanded while holding Shingo's gi. 

"No. The plan was perfect. According to our spies, there were only twenty guards at the meeting, lead by Hajime Saitou…"

"But?"

"Please forgive me. It is my fault. Due to some matters concerning our preparation, I was five minutes late. Just as I reaching the place where all of us are supposed to meet, I felt a surge of powerful kenki. When I arrived, everybody was already dead. I tried to find out what happened, but less than a half hour later, Saitou arrived. I barely manage to hide myself"

The man released the grip on Shingo's gi. "I see. So, the powerful ki presence I detected yesterday was not something I imagined after all" 

"No……, probably not", Shingo blurted out

"DAMN! IT IS IMPOSSIBLE!" A hole in the wall was created by the man's powerful punch. "HOW COULD SOMEONE EXERT KENKI SO POWERFUL THAT EVEN I CAN FEEL IT FROM HERE?! IMPOSSIBLE! NO HUMAN CAN DO THAT!" He punched the wall a few times to release his frustration. Finally he calmed himself and continued asking. "It was Saitou's?"

"No", Shingo answered. "He himself looked perplexed by the bodies. And somehow his ki is very different from the one I felt. When I felt the ki, I feel it contained so much killing intent, so much so that I was paralyzed by the feeling. But…"

"But what? Do not test my patience"

"There was… no evil in the ki?" Shingo said slowly, trying to line up his thought. "The ki's owner obviously wanted to kill them, but I believe the act of killing was carried out without any emotion that normally accompanies the killing intent, be it good or bad. Only the pure intent to kill"

The man thought on this information a bit. "Pure killing intention. This is something unheard of during the time of the Bakumatsu. And what did you find out about the bodies?"

"There are multiple slashes on each one of them. The slashes are not deep enough to damage any vital organs, but on one body I've managed to count about 70 slashes. I think all of them bleed to death.

The man mused even longer. "Strange. All of them died almost instaneously and from bleeding. There is no one I know of that can do this easily. Even the famed Mibu's Wolf would have problem defeating all of them at once, since their skills are almost equal to Saitou's Shinsengumi's members. And there are even a few ex-members of Shinsengumi in the group"

"Perhaps it was Himura Battousai who did it"

"Impossible," he said waving it off. "He was in Otaru at that time. And Shishio has been spotted in Saga province. Not that he will help the Meiji government who betrayed him". He kept quiet for a few seconds and then let out a roaring laugh.

Shingo watched quietly while he laughed. He still didn't quite understand his master after all these years he spent serving him. A minute ago his master was very angry, and now he was laughing maniacally. But he only opened his mouth to ask after the laugh subsided. "Why are you laughing, master?"

"Nothing, really. But I remembered some advice my deceased father imparted to me that I really did not understand until now. 'We will never know what was and what will be. Only what is'. Now I know. We can't really predict the future. Even if our plan is perfect, there will always be a chance that something unexpected will foil it. Just as the Mongols' attempts to invade Japan hundreds of years ago were repulsed by the mighty Kamikaze (Divine Wind), my plan is foiled" 

Shingo raised his eyebrows. "Does that mean…"

The man sighed, somewhat disappointed. This was also the first time Shingo had seen him sigh disappointedly. "Don't worry, it just means that now we have to wait again. Surely the security will be tightened now to thwart any new attempt. It was a very good chance though. It is a pity that we don't even know who did it"

"I'm sorry"

"Don't be. It is like what my father said. Something unexpected. I myself should have predicted such thing happening. Shingo…"

"Yes, Master?"

"Direct every branch of our intelligence to find out who could have launched such a powerful attack. We need to know whether he is our enemy or not"

****************************************

"Master, our intelligence reports that Shishio's building up his army and they are poised to attack the Meiji government in a few months time"

"Oh", the man replied while sipping his tea. "And he is trying to find guns and ammunitions for his army?"

"Yes," Shingo answered.

"Good. Now tell our agents to leak the information about the weapons smugglers in Hong Kong and Shanghai. We will weaken Meiji government with its own knife"

****************************************

"Himura and Saitou defeated Shishio"

"I see. As predicted. Nevertheless, Shishio has managed to weaken Meiji government even further. And what of this rumor I heard about our main Shanghai supplier's disappearance?"

"Yukishiro's-san assistants took over from him, so our business relationship is unchanged. But someone spotted a young white-haired man at a Tokyo harbor a few days ago. Shall we go and invite him over?"

"No. He will know where to find me if he wants to. I believe he may have something to settle here. And as for our men inside the government, I want them to compile a list of corrupt officers. Pay particular attention to those whose accumulated wealth has increased tremendously within a short time while they held important positions"

****************************************

Shingo opened the sliding door to his master's room. "Sorry to be rude, master, but I believe this is important. Our men have found out that Yukoshiro is after Battousai. He has destroyed a few buildings in Tokyo. And an outside informer said that he will collaborate with the foreign powers to level Japan to dust"

"If I were you, I will behead that outside informer for spreading lies," a voice behind him replied, surprising him. "Don't you think so, Shingo?" Shingo turned around to see a white-haired man with spectacles looking at him, smiling dangerously. "Sure, I have my personal reason to kill Battousai, but to level Japan to dust? Your outside informer just wanted to earn more money at my expense"

"Ah, Yukishiro, you are punctual, as usual. Do have a seat. I have prepared the chess board for you"

"No need to be formal. Enishi is enough". Enishi casually walked toward the man and sat near the chess board, facing him. "I suppose today you will let me have the first move?"

"Yes, of course" 

"Ah. Very good. For me, this game is going to be personal; I would like to give it my complete concentration" Enishi said, as if hinting at something else.

"Of course. Enishi. It is your game after all"

"Very good," Enishi smiled and made the first move.

"Shingo, please prepare tea for our distinguished guest. Afterwards, retire the informer permanently. He is a liability to the secrecy of our organization"

****************************************

"Master, Yukishiro's been defeated by Himura and was taken into custody"

"How about his business affiliates?" He asked while taking the report being handed to him by another agent.

"Their smuggling group is being destroyed even as we speak" 

"No matter. We will get our weapons straight from the source" he said while flipping through the pages. Then his eyebrows knitted when he saw something in the report. "Interesting. Yukishiro has demonstrated something that I can use to my advantage" he said, putting down the report on the table.

****************************************

He stood by the graves looking at the names that were engraved on them. "Sakura", he whispered quietly, "Everyday when I wake up, the first thing I do is to think of you, your mother and your grandfather. How I wish that I hadn't wasted my time with other things. How I wish…" He sighed. "Today is the last time I will visit all of you. Farewell" He turned toward his trusted advisor.

"Shingo"

"Yes, Master?"

He began to walk away from the graves. "Tell our men to prepare for an all out attack. I want the information regarding their present counter intelligence capabilities submitted to me. While we are at it, increase the number of agents spying on the Oniwanshuu. I want to know the movements of every one of them, including the old goat Okina. And remind them to keep some distance from Aoshi while spying from him" He stopped and turned to look at the graves. Suddenly there was a powerful wind and the graves were destroyed. He sheathed his sword and turned to resume his walk. 

"Now is time. The Meiji government is weaker than ever, and the people's trust in them is wavering. Japan will know of and bow to the Orochi's supreme might. Yes, the Serpent has come to quench his thirst for power. And he will sacrifice the blood of the Ishin Shishi killers to the souls of his family" 

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**Author's other disclaimers and comments**

1) Although I use some Japanese words, I don't pretend to know the language. But I have a Pre-Windows 95 dictionary where I translate it by typing the word in English, view the hiragana wording, translate it into Romaji and then put it in my story. So if I made a mistake in translation, pretend that you don't see it. Or volunteer to translate it correctly. Why pretend that this story is a Japanese story? Frankly speaking, 'Kuzuryusen' sounds better than 'Nine headed dragon flash'. And of course some of the Japanese words have almost no equal in English. Or the usage is impractical. For example Japanese sometimes mention a word a few times like 'Hai hai' (hai-yes)' or 'Maa maa maa maa maa maa (maa maa-calm down)' Personally, I don't recall ever hearing people saying 'calm down calm down calm down' like that. 

2) Let's face it, the plot where bad guys appeared and threaten the peace and freedom of the world is as common as bread. Everyone make them, or at least have some basic knowledge on how to do so. But, with bread having different flavor and texture, so must one strive not to accidentally or knowingly copy others' recipe without permission. 

3) I tried to arrange the events according to the chronologically order based on RK Manga. But… (see no 4 and no 5).

4) Proper use of English is like icing on a cake. It makes for a better reading just like icing makes for better eating. However, I already have trouble baking the cake as it is. So…

5) Comments, replies, opinion, criticism (good and bad) and Co. to stories are similar to seasonings that are added to the food. Sometimes they make the food sweet, sometime bitter, sometime salty and so on. But one thing for sure, they will not make the food taste bland. Sure, I can say that I write this just for my entertainment. But if so, I can just write it and store it in some folders, right? No, I can't do that. I just hope people will R&R me. I don't mind people screaming obscenities and profanities in their input for me. Opps, I do mind, a little. Just remember to give a valid reason for doing so.

_This chapter was checked by Fujifunmum_


	2. Chapter 1

**__**

Suenagaku na Aki arc (Ever stay autumn)

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Chapter 1

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'Father, I have trained so much, but I'm still not strong', she said to the man in front of her tentatively. She closed her eyes, fearing his reproach. When it didn't come, she opened her eyes to see her normally stern and strict father smiled.

"Aa, chibi. You're still not strong"

Fear forgotten, she glared at him. "What! Then what's the point of me learning all of this? I want to play outside, just like kids my age do. And I have yet to receive my dolls just like you promised!" She pouted and stomped her feet.

An adult woman sitting nearby giggled at her behavior. Her giggling annoyed the man. "Just look at your daughter" he said in exasperation.

"I'm looking at her, dear"

"I don't mean that!"

"Koshijiro, you always say that Kaoru takes after you more. That alone explains her stubbornness. Anyway, about the dolls, you DID promise her"

"I guess I did," the man sighed, admitting his defeat.

"Then, may I go out and play? I don't want to practice anymore," Kaoru asked expectantly.

"No"

Mist began forming in Kaoru's eyes.

"Don't cry. I can't stand seeing you cry" Koshijiro thought about something for a long time. Kaoru wiped her eyes, hoping that he would agree to her request. It was not going out to play that was on her mind, it's just that she didn't see the point of training in kendo. Plus, she was only a 7 years old girl and she desperately wanted to go out and play like other children.

Her father looked at his wife who nodded her understanding at his decision not to let Kaoru go out. He then looked at Kaoru. "Tell you what; I'm going to tell you a secret"

"A secret?" Kaoru's curiosity was aroused.

"Yes. But on two conditions"

"What are they?" Kaoru asked impatiently.

"One, no going out unless you're with me or your mother. And if I won't let you go out, you must promise not to cry"

"But…"

"This secret is only for brave men and women who learn Kamiya Kasshinryu" Koshijiro said in a storytelling voice. 

"Girls too?"

"Girls too," He winked at his wife. "But you can go out and play now, because the second condition is even harder"

"Otousan, I want to know! I'm willing to do anything"

"Are you willing to train hard without complaining from now on?"

"Yes!" came the answer a second after the question was asked.

Koshijiro smiled triumphantly. "Very well, listen carefully, as I'm going to say this once. Are you sure you're going keep you promise?"

"Yes!"

"Very well. This secret is the one you should learn after you have learn the succession move"

"Koshijiro!" his wife admonished. "Surely you're not going to tell her THAT? She is just a kid"

Koshijiro went over to his wife and they had a heated conversation. He seemed to be trying to convince her about something. Kaoru didn't understand the rapid exchange between her parents, but hoped that her mother would let her father tell her the secret. She was bursting with curiosity. Then her mother threw her hands up and said something about hoping he was doing the right thing to which he answered that he was. With the debate settled, Kaoru became the focus of her father once more.

"Chibi, are you sure you want to hear the secret?"

"Yes!"

"Very well, the secret is 'Kamiya Kasshinryu has two guardians, light and dark, which are completely opposite of each other. When they meet each other, they will shatter the limit"

"What does it mean?"

"You will only understand it if you train. Now, rest for a while before we continue our training"

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Busu, you're not only ugly, but you also have a very short memory"

The bokken in Kaoru's hands managed to land on Yahiko's head hard. 

"Oi!" Yahiko protested while rubbing his sore head. "You're the one who forgot about what I asked"

"The hit is for calling me names, Yahiko-chan"

"Look at who's calling people names. I told you never to call me kid! Now, are you going to answer me or not?"

Kaoru mentally sighed. She felt he was the same as she had been, eager to learn something important and secret. Now she thought it had all been a trick played on her by her father to convince her to study kenjutsu. "The answer is no! There's no such thing as a super-duper secret and powerful technique that will allow you to show off to Tsubame"

"I don't remember mentioning her in our conversation!"

"Well then, you can think about her while you scrub the dojo floor spotless after we finished training"

"Che! If Kenshin was willing to teach me, I wouldn't have to be a student of an old hag"

"You can also pretend that Kenshin's teaching you while doing your 1000 practice strokes before cleaning the floor"

****************************************

Fanning herself after a hard training with her own 'baka deshi', Kaoru fixed her gaze on the one man she cared more than anyone else. As usual, Kenshin always did the laundry at this time of the day. Although he was smiling as he goes about washing the clothes, Kaoru wondered whether the smile was genuine. _'He always smiles'_, she thought to herself, trying to dispel the negative thought. But then again she noticed Kenshin's smile was becoming more frequent since the fight with Enishi. Hearing about an ex-member of Juppongatana, Soujiro who smiled to hide the emotions and pains he felt didn't help to ease Kaoru's concern.

"Did sessha do something wrong, Kaoru-dono?" Kenshin's innocent query caused Kaoru to blush and pretend to look at the tree near Kenshin. "No… nothing. Why do you think that?" Kaoru stammered out her reply. "You were looking at me as if I was a ghost," Kenshin said, smiling at her. _'There he goes, smiling again. And the use of 'this unworthy one' as usual'_ "Nothing, really. I wasn't looking at you. I was looking at the tree. I was trying to remember its age". Kenshin nodded and continued his work.

Kaoru continued her train of thought, trying to rationalize whether Kenshin's acting strange or not. But deep down, she knew that she had the answer already. The problem is that the answer leads to another question, a question that burned inside her mind, but could not be asked to everyone, especially Kenshin. 

"Oi. Jo-chan. Time for feed my stomach. You should ask your slave to stop doing the laundry and cook lunch," Sano said, interrupting her thoughts. A bit upset at being called Kenshin's master although she knew he didn't mean it, she retorted back, "I wish that Megumi was here give you something to make your stomach smarter"

"You hurt my feelings. And my stomach's", Sanosuke said, pretending to be hurt by her remark

"Don't worry, Sano. The laundry is done. Sessha will cook lunch", Kenshin said, consoling him.

"Yosha! Long live Kenshin. Go for it", Sanosuke said, shoving Kenshin into the kitchen. Kaoru watched their antics. 

Sure, she admitted to herself that she was happy to have Sanosuke around. In fact, she was so shocked when one day she opened the dojo door to find him asking about lunch that she practically stood there dumbfounded until Yahiko brought her to her senses with his name-calling. Over lunch, Sanosuke told them how he mistakenly took the ship to Mongolia or something. He just didn't know where he was. One thing for sure, as Sano told Kenshin, Yahiko and herself while stuffing himself, he wasn't in America. 

Yahiko was quite angry when he was kicked out of Sano's house, or HIS house as Yahiko maintained, but the fact is that the baka rooster is back to stay. Adding to his stroke of luck, when Kenshin approached the police chief regarding the charges being held against his friend, he was told that the case would not be pursued, as the person Sanosuke supposedly assaulted was missing, and the police deemed it more important to find him first. Initially, Sanosuke was thoroughly interrogated, as he was suspected of kidnapping the man. But then he was released immediately. Kenshin's inquiries on the matter revealed that the release order was signed by from someone from police intelligence department in Hokkaido. Since then, Sano would appear at the Kamiya dojo almost every mealtime. 

But as much as she enjoyed Sano's company, she didn't like being disturbed while she's thinking of something important. Confident that Sanosuke wouldn't bother her anymore, she sat down and tried to reconstruct her train of thought.

"Why don't you tell me what's wrong?" Sanosuke said quietly while sitting to her left.

"What do you mean?"

"Feh. People always think that I'm stupid or something"

"Well, you are a bit thick-headed and don't like to think…" Kaoru said, trying to change the subject. A curious Sanosuke Sagara is someone she didn't need.

"Maybe I am stupid. But, even an idiot like me can tell that you're troubled by something"

Kaoru knew that there was no escaping from Sano's question._ 'But I should not tell him what's on my mind',_ a part of her reasoned. '_Admit it, you really wanted to know about it. Think! This is an opportunity for you to find out'_, another voice in her reminded. "Well, Jo-chan? I'm waiting", Sano said impatiently. Kaoru let out a small breath. Turning to Sano, she asked, "What happened while I was gone?"

"Huh?"

Kaoru rolled her eyes. Either Sano was stupid or he didn't want to answer her. Judging from him asking his question to her a moment ago, she would settle for the later. "Is… there… something… that… happened… while… I… was… kidnapped… by… Enishi?" Kaoru said slowly, making sure that every word could be heard, leaving no chance for Sano to plead stupidity or deafness. "I noticed that Kenshin's somewhat changed", she continued.

"Oh. I better go and check on Kenshin. Maybe the food is ready," Sano tried to get up but felt but felt her hand on his right sleeve. Looking at her hung head, Sano chided himself for having such a big curiosity and even a bigger mouth. He sat again. "Nothing happened! Why do you think something happened?"

Kaoru remained still and quiet. Sano tried his last attempt to bluff her. "Nothing of importance happened. Except that we searched frantically for you"

"You are a terrible liar. Now I am sure something has happened. Whatever that had happened, Kenshin doesn't want me to know", Kaoru said softly. _'Shit! God, help me escape from her question. I promise I wouldn't gamble for a week'_

As if Sano's prayer was answered, Megumi came through the front gate. Sano knew either he's very lucky or the god had answered his prayer, as Megumi visiting from Aizu was not something that happened everyday. He wondered whether he should go back on his promise not to gamble for a week…

Looking at Sano's awkward look and Kaoru's lowered head, Megumi teased, "What have you done this time, chicken head?" Indignant at her accusation but relived by her presence nonetheless, Sano rose. "I did nothing" He was surprised as Kaoru suddenly stood between him and Megumi. "That's a blatant lie" _'Shit. Now she's going to press me for information in front of Megumi. I'm dead. Megumi will certainly enjoy skinning me alive after this'_, Sano thought. 

"He bad-mouthed my cooking as usual," Kaoru said while playfully punching Sano's stomach, causing him to kneel and gasp for air. 

"Oh. I see. Sano, please learn to behave like a gentleman", Megumi said seductively while placing her index finger under Sano's chin. "I do like you a bit; maybe we can work on making the liking bit bigger, hmm?" She walked toward his left side and blew softly in his ear, tickling him. "Maybe if you knew how treat women kindly…" Sano began to sweat nervously as he felt nervous and wasn't sure that he could withstand Megumi's seduction attack on him any longer. Megumi giggled, adding to his discomfort even more. She looked at Kaoru. "But of course, even I, the most diplomatic person here, aside from Ken-san that is, have to admit that your cooking IS bad"

"Megumi…," Kaoru said, gritting her teeth.

Megumi ignored her. "Where is Kenshin? Maybe he's in the kitchen. I better go to him and let you continue your fight. Ohohoho", Megumi laughed while heading to the kitchen. Sano looked at her back as she walked away. He tried to say something so that Megumi would not leave him and Kaoru alone, but he couldn't think of anything. Finally, Sano forced himself to look at Kaoru.

"Forget that I ask", Kaoru said while keeping her downcast look on the wooden floor in front of her. "Just promise me that you will not tell anyone" She then walked away, leaving Sano with feeling of a guilt.

After that, Kaoru acted as if nothing has happened between them, teasing Sano and getting angry at Sano's remarks as usual. For his part, Sano was willing to comply, conveniently forgetting what has transpired between the two of them.

****************************************

Shingo walked along the corridor inside the building, marveling at the weapons being produced there. He never thought a row of run-down houses could hide a weapon manufacturing facility. And the fact that it was located not far from a police station made it more amazing. _'These people in Shanghai sure are very clever'_, he thought to himself. As he walked toward the centre of the factory, he spied a blonde foreigner talking to some workers. He approached him after the workers left.

"Mr. Kari Neowinoshito?

The foreigner spun around and Shingo found himself looking into a pair of green eyes. "Neuwindst, not Neowinoshito. Karl. Not Kari. Karl Neuwindst. I just wish everybody here could pronounce my name correctly. Please wait a minute" Karl said as he looked into at a piece of paper. "You are Yamazaki Shingo, correct? I was told of you coming here. How can I help you?"

"Mr. No Win, I was sent to check on the weapons my master asked you to provide us"

"Sigh. Neu…windst … Why do I even bother? Anyway, I will show a sample of the weapon to you if you would please walk this way"

"Yes. I will walk like you do, although I find your slouching a bit disturbing"

Karl Neuwindst stared hard at him, trying to decide whether Shingo was putting him on. Deciding not to pursue the matter any longer, he led Shingo to a few boxes that are piled neatly. He opened one of the boxes to reveal a weapon that resembles two rifles being put together. The weapon was connected to a box, presumably containing ammunitions. Aside from the weapon itself, the box also contained a tripod. Henreich called for two workers to lift weapon out of the box and put it on the tripod. The workers quickly assembled the weapon in less than a minute.

"Mr. Yamazaki, I present you the with Gardner gun. With some modifications, of course"

"Gardner gun? I thought we asked for the Gattling gun. Are you trying to cheat us?", Shingo demanded, clearly annoyed.

"Calm down", Neuwindst said assuringly. "If I'm not mistaken, your leader said in his letter _'provide me with your best rapid-firing guns', _and I am doing as instructed"

"Yes, he did. But…"

"The reason why I had not prepared the weapon until you came was to show you how easy it is to be carried and assembled. A Gattling gun with six barrels is three times heavier than a Gardner gun, which only has two barrels. Lighter weight means more ammunition can be carried along. Since it is not stated what the guns will be used for, we will also provide the five barrel version, which is better for fixed installations"

"How about the firing rate?" Shingo asked, still unconvinced.

"I assure you, the firing rate is almost on par with the Gattling gun. And, it also has two barrels that can fire simultaneously. Gattling gun can only fire from one barrel at one time. Let me tell you something. The inventor of this gun proposed its design to the American army but was turned down. The reason is not because the gun is not good. In fact, it is better than the Gattling gun. But the American army didn't see the need to replace the Gattling gun with something more advanced. The armies in Europe however, are rushing to equip their soldiers with this weapon"

"You have convinced me. But what of the modification you touted being done on this gun?"

"The use of automatic weapon firing and reloading. I believe this will be an advantage to your army. Of course, the guns cost more, but I believe that your leader will be satisfied with the improvements"

"Maybe he will. When can you deliver them to us?"

"Tomorrow, one of our ships will leave for Japan. So, if you agree, we can deliver the shipment of Gardner guns tomorrow. Or we can still provide you with the Gattling guns, if you still want them"

"We would like Gardner guns"

"So, that very much concludes our second transaction. How does your leader like his shipment of cannons?"

"More than satisfied"

"I'm glad. Personally, I take pride in producing cannons of higher quality than Krupp's. Someday I'll prove to them that they have made a mistake of firing me"

"And you want to prove it by trying to be our main supplier after we conquer Japan?"

"Well, Yes and No. Actually, one of the main reasons I like doing business with your leader is because he always pays first even before looking at the weapons. I do value a customer who pays up first. It's something of a great honor to me, with people trusting me by paying…"

"We can talk about money later, Mr. Neu…windst. Anyway, you have yet to show me the so-called _secret weapon_"

"Gladly, since your leader has already paid for them too. Why don't we go to the countryside so that I can give you a demonstration?"

****************************************

"Well?" Karl asked after Shingo lowered his binoculars. From the place the two are standing, they could see the craters caused by the weapon

"It's amazing"

"But of course. I'm the one who designed and made it. So then, I will provide fifteen units of those"

"Ee? But the receipt you just gave me only mention about five units"

"Of course", Karl said with twinkle in his eyes. "But the ten additional units come with a condition"

"What is it?"

Karl walked away toward a table with a bottle of champagne and two glasses on it. "I will tell you as we enjoy this fine sake made in France"

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** 

****

Notes

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1) Suenagaku na Aki literally means "forever, that is of the autumn" or in short, autumn forever. I admit, I do take some liberty with the words. But IMHO, 'ever stay autumn' sounds better. And the title will be less likely to be taken.

2) Gardner gun[s] have a crank that when turned, will cause the gun to load the bullets from a bullet case behind the barrels into the firing chambers and then fire them. While the Gattling design of rotating barrels and stationary loading chamber[s] is proven more versatile eventually and still being used up until now*[and is still in use today], in the last century, where portability and ease of deployment is[was] more important, the gardner gun design is[was] considered better**. Also, turning the crank is easier because it will cause the loading mechanism to turn, not the barrels. Plus, it can fire two-five[2 to 5?] bullets at one time. The five barrel version was being used for naval ships. But for more information, or for diagram[s] or pictures of the gun, please check your local library for books on weapons of [the] previous century or point your browser to the search engines. 

3) I don't know whether I will provide more historical or technical backgrounds*** as this story unfolds (as I feel that maybe it will be not needed anymore), but I promise to at least explain what I deem are important.

4) This is a revised version of the revised version. 

Fujifunmum -- The first bite of food will always overwhelm the tongue with its flavor. Thank you

Ranma1517730129 -- Sometimes, the gourmet knows more about food than an amateur cook.

Fujifunmum -- Hmm… Point well taken. Since I'm lazy enough to cook up a similar meaning cryptic sentence, please refer to the one above. 

keiko() -- A poor man's soup will always start with a stone (at least in the story). Then few more ingredients are added in as the soup is being boiled over the fire, while the cook hopes that the resulting broth will taste good. 

* : Of course, there are major modifications to the basic design, such as automatic or mechanized firing mechanism, but the basic rotating function is still still there

** : This, of course, have to be taken with a pinch of salt, as the writer's term better applies to that time and even then, to certain conditions. But, cost-wise, producing a two barrel gun was cheaper than a gun with six barrels because of the materials needed (obviously) and the complexity of the design. This is because the lesser moving parts being used in a design, the easier for it to be maintained.

*** : This refers to the characters' personal info or extra information. Of course, this mostly applies to the introduced characters as they're the one who needed the background information, but including it in the story too much will probably spoil the story.

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This chapter was checked by Fujifunmum


	3. Chapter 2

**__**

Suenagaku na Aki

Chapter 2

Kenshin just stared at Kaoru and Yahiko as they went through their training exercises. But, most of the time, his attention was fixed on the young woman. He was not sure why is he was more interested in looking at her. Kenshin knew that he was confused, but for what reason? Even as his eyes followed her moving form, a myriad of emotions and feelings flooded his heart, threatening to show themselves on his face.

Fondness for her liveliness.

Admiration at for her infallible courage and determination to uphold the principle of "the sword that protects life" even when facing a much stronger opponent.

Happiness at her kindness.

Sadness because she had to endure difficulties and troubles because of him.

Then Kenshin's eyes flashed a yellowish hue as darker emotions surfaced. The most notable of them was anger. A raging anger that had no cause, only wanting itself to be heard and released. A kind of anger that existed years ago, while he's still a cold blooded killer who only brought misery in the name of ushering in a new era. The overwhelming feeling he felt when he saw his fallen enemies lying on the ground, or as he delivered tenchuu, the justice of heaven to those unfortunate enough to be in his path.

Kenshin blinked his eyes. He shook his head, mentally trying to chase the anger away. This was something he was not supposed to feel. 

"Are you all right, Kenshin?"

Kenshin looked into the blue eyes of the speaker, noticing her concern. "Hai. Kaoru-dono, Sessha's all right. Sessha is fine"

Kaoru unconsciously held out her right hand to touch his face. Then realizing what she almost did, she shamefully pulled it back. "Gomen-nasai," she said, almost whispering it. An uneasy moment passed, as both of them were lost for words.

"Oi, busu. What are you doing disturbing Kenshin? You're supposed to teach me, nor flirt around"

Kaoru rolled her eyes and walked back to her place to resume training. Kenshin continued looking at her, more confused than ever. As he did, he felt distraught as he finally realized the reason he was angry. 

He was angry with Kaoru. But what disturbed Kenshin more was that he didn't know the reason why.

****************************************

Kenshin tried to meditate to find out what was wrong with him. Even as he began to breathe in a controlled rhythm, he realized that his disturbed mind would have hampered any attempt to relax and clear his thoughts. Admitting defeat to himself, he got up and began walking around the dojo compound.

__

'I wish… I knew what has happened to me. Have I gone mad? Why am I angry with her? She didn't do anything' he tried to reason to himself.

__

'Are you sure, rurouni?' a part of him taunted.

__

'Yes. Why must I be angry with her? She's a kind woman, just like Tomoe' 

'Then, it is simple. You are angry with her because of her being herself'

'Iie! That's not true! I do like her as she is. You're trying to confuse me' The rurouni half of Kenshin pointed a finger to his other half. _'Perhaps it was you who have such ill feelings toward her'_

'Naze? You're accusing me of harboring ill feelings toward her? You're wrong, hypocrite. If I'm harboring ill feelings, they're directed toward you. You're the one who is angry with her, just like you're blaming me for the endless killings during the Bakumatsu. 

The two of you are different people. How dare you try to compare yourself with her?'

The battousai part of Kenshin laughed. _'Perhaps, but that doesn't change the fact that it was you who harbored the anger toward her. And while Kaoru and I are different, you and I aren't, rurouni'_

'Kisama… How dare you'

'Of course. Why should I be afraid of you? We're one and the same. We're neither the rurouni nor the battousai; only the boy named Shinta who grew up to became Kenshin Himura. But you're unwilling to admit it even now. And to think you learned the succession technique to suppress me. And remember the night when 'WE' saved Kaoru from Jin'ei? You made a promise to Jin'ei and yourself that you will control me, your evil side as long as you live. Bah! What a big hoax. You and that dead idiot were wrong. If it was true that I am the evil side of you, I would have committed untold atrocities a long time ago'

'You're the one who did the killing during the Bakumatsu. And you enjoyed the killing part'

'Hahahahaha. See? That's the kind of lie you repeat to yourself every time you wake to a new day. No wonder you're so afraid of me. Perhaps you say that because you think that I'm crazy. Yes, you can say I'm crazy. I suffer from battle-craze, but it is because of you. You and your naïve thought of trying to protect by killing. I fought for your benefit for too long, I began to enjoy the battles. In fact, the guilt, the pain and everything else made me feel alive. I wanted to fight. And fight. After each fight I felt empty. I hungered for more. But either I chose to enjoy the fight, or I chose to enjoy the act of killing' The Battousai part of Kenshin stopped. _'If Tomoe hadn't come into our life, I'm not sure about which choice I would have made'_

The rurouni part agreed with him in silence. 

The battousai part of Kenshin looked at his counterpart in all seriousness. _'Now, my time of making choices for us is over. Only you can choose the path now, whether to walk on a road together with me or to walk alone, with me walking as your parallel all the time'_

'What do you mean by that?'

"Ken-san?"

Kenshin turned to see Megumi walking toward him. He has forgotten that he was not alone even though Kaoru and Yahiko were training at another dojo. Megumi was staying with them, while she was visiting them from Aizu. 

"Is there anything wrong, Megumi-dono?"

"No, there's nothing wrong, except that you have been standing transfixed in the same spot for a few minutes. And you have that blank look on your face. Would you like to tell me why?"

"Iie. I was just thinking about something unimportant"

"Really?" Megumi sat on the walkway a few meters from him. "That's strange, because that is exactly what Kaoru told me when I found her in exactly the same state. Ever since I arrived here, I see that the both of you seem to have a lot on your mind"

"There's nothing to it, Megumi-dono"

Megumi crossed her arms while smiling a smile she normally reserved for her younger patients every time they tried to lie to her. "Perhaps there's nothing to it, but I seem to notice that Kaoru was quite oblivious to my attempt to make her jealous. She used to get angry every time I teased you in front of her. Now, she doesn't say anything at all. That disturbs me greatly. Something is wrong with her. I may be incorrect, but I say this based on my own experience. In my line of work Kenshin, the quietest person is normally the one who must be treated as soon as possible. The second one is the person who says that there's nothing wrong with him"

Kenshin wondered whether the fact that Kaoru had been acting weird lately had something to do with him. "What can sessha do to help, Megumi-dono?"

"Talk to her. She may be more willing to tell you than anybody else. But I am afraid that it may be not that simple"

****************************************

Hajime Saitou opened the small box and took out a cigarette. After lighting it up and taking a few puffs, his face changed. He angrily tossed the cigarette into an ashtray and then threw the almost full cigarette box into the waste paper basket to his left while uttering while swearing. Chou, the former Juppon Gatana who now served under him raised his eyebrows, but kept quiet.

"Damn those foreign cigarettes," Hajime Saitou swore.

"You threw the whole box away. Why?" Chou asked.

"The cigarettes are stale"

Chou didn't understand what Saitou meant. He picked up the box and took a cigarette out of the crumpled box. After lighting it up, he smoked it. Then he coughed while spitting it out, obviously unused to smoking. Saitou watched what Chou did, but he wasn't going tell Chou about what he meant. He had better things to do rather than wasting his time trying to educate someone on the fine art of smoking. Ever since he had been transferred to Hokkaido, he found himself constantly being overwhelmed by paperwork, which he despised. The Hokkaido police force did everything by the book, even when doing something as simple such as investigating a public report. In fact, the first time when he asked one of his subordinates to go and get him something at the market, he was asked to fill out a form designated for such requests. It was fortunate for the officer that he was in a good mood that day. The story about him slashing the poor officer's table into tiny pieces ensured that nobody apart from his superiors dared to ask him to fill out anything. And his superiors only asked him to do the important parts of reports, which couldn't be done by anyone else.

Still, even Saitou had to admit that the Hokkaido police force was much better than their Tokyo counterparts. If he asked someone to give him a report in a three days time, he only needed to walk into his office the next day to see the report finished and on his table. And that was before the table fiasco. Everyone in his office knew what his job was, and normally wouldn't ask twice for further explanation on what was required from him. 

Suddenly, there was a knock on his office door, and a man entered. It was the officer whose table had been destroyed by Saitou. Ever since that incident, he wouldn't dare to enter Saitou's office unless it was urgent. Saitou looked at a telegram envelope in his hand. "Open and read it", he commanded. The officer nodded his head and opened the envelope before reading it

__

'HQ informs that Inspector Gorou Fujita to be transferred to Tokyo effective immediately STOP All necessary arrangements have been made STOP Take the earliest ship possible STOP Briefing after arrival STOP' "That's it, sir", the officer said as he lowered the telegram. 

"Kso! What trouble did those fools in Tokyo get into this time?"

Chou smiled as he saw the police officer winced unconsciously. After he has caught hold of himself, the officer's expression changed, as if thinking on something. Chou was not the only one who noticed.

"What do you want to say? I don't have all day", Saitou barked. The frightened man would have jumped out of his boots had Chou not put his hand on his shoulder. "Relax, Ryu", Chou said, assuring him. "Just say what's on your mind just now" 

"If I may say something sir, I think it have something to do with the death of some government officials and former Ishin Shishi members", the officer began timidly.

"Go on"

"According to the investigation, the deaths don't seem to be linked to each other. Even the murder weapons are different. The only similarity between the murders is that there seems to be no motive at all"

Saitou smirked. He was reduced to solving bizarre murder cases now. Those stupid politicians must have been having sleepless nights because of those murders. Although he lived by the principle 'Aku Soku Zan' (kill evil instantly), he wondered whether he would have more satisfaction by taking care of the cases as fast as he could or by watching the fat government officials becoming thinner and thinner as they feared for their lives. Ryu was not finished, however. What he said next almost caused Saitou to rise from his chair.

"The telegram office in Tokyo acknowledged that aside from you, a telegram was forwarded to one Aoshi Shinomori in Kyoto"

Saitou muttered an oath under his breath. There was only one Aoshi Shinomori in Kyoto and his involvement meant there was more to the murders than what they seemed to be. Then a small feral smile crossed his lips as he thought about the possibility of Battousai being involved. _'This may be more interesting than I thought' "_Oi, you!" Saitou snapped at the police officer.

"Ye… Yes sir?"

"When I'm in Tokyo, you will go to my house every day to inquire about anything that my wife needs and to get them for her, understand?" 

"Yes sir"

"Good. Now get me a new box of cigarettes at Omori's shop. Tell the shopkeeper that I sent you. He'll know what I want". The officer promptly left the room to carry out his errand. Saitou turned toward Chou. "Make sure you're at the harbor at six tomorrow morning"

___________________________________________________________________________________________

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Notes

I'm not a smoker, but I have known some people who will throw away a newly-opened packet of cigarettes if they feel the cigarettes are not fresh enough. Since I assume Saitou is a classy kind of guy when it comes to smoking, I think he would have done the same to 'stale' cigarettes.

The Fic Critic -- The freshly cook food, although may taste terrible, may be saved by an excellent bottle of aged wine. I use 'Kso' because of the sound the Japanese pronounce it. But the real spelling is still Kuso. Anyway, thanks on the Saitou bit. I was thinking about ZakuII when I write it.

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This chapter was checked by Fujifunmum


	4. Chapter 3

Recommended music : RK's Sekihotai theme (or similar sad music, but not Starless). For more info, read the author's notes first.

****

**_Suenagaku na Aki_**

**Chapter 3**

Kenshin walked to the door when he heard footsteps and a boy's voice muttering. He opened the main door to see Kaoru and Yahiko who had just returned from their training at one of the other dojos in Tokyo. 

"Tadaima," Kaoru's voice rang out, announcing that both of them have arrived home.

"Ksssoooooooo, I'm dead tired," Yahiko said, ignoring that it was an inappropriate greeting.

"Okaerinasai Kaoru-dono, Yahiko", Kenshin welcomed both of them.

Kaoru breezed inside while Yahiko dragged himself inside.

"Huhhhhhh……"Yahiko said while letting his body drop on the floor after walking a few steps. 

"Yahiko, you shouldn't sleep there," Kaoru admonished him.

"But, sensei… I'm too tired"

Kenshin and Kaoru eyes widened. Yahiko was indeed tired that he didn't even have the energy to call Kaoru names. Kaoru picked him by his shoulder.

"Walk," she commanded.

"!@#!&^," came the weak reply.

"Or I can carry you if you want,"

Upon hearing that Yahiko staggered toward his room while being supported by Kaoru. Kenshin started to follow after them when Megumi got between him and them. 

"I suddenly recall that I have something to do at the clinic," she announced clearly. 

Kenshin narrowed his eyebrows. He could still hear Megumi's words echoing in his mind. _"Talk to her. She may be more willing to tell you than anybody else. But I am afraid that it may not be that simple" _As if knowing that he was thinking about it, Megumi gave a small nod and walked out of the door. His head followed her departing form.

"Did I hear that Megumi is going to the clinic?"

Kenshin turned to see Kaoru looking at him. _No. The term was wrong_, he decided as he implored her yes. _She was trying to look into him_. Ever since he stayed at the dojo, he found that Kaoru gave him that look now and then, as if trying to unravel him. "Yes, she has something to do. Kaoru-dono, how's Yahiko? Sessha feel that Kaoru-dono is pushing him a bit more than usual today" 

"Don't worry about that. He just needs some rest. He'll be up and running in no time"

_"Talk to her"  _"Kaoru-dono?"

"Hai?"

A few seconds passed as Kenshin tried to think of how to ask her. Meanwhile, Kaoru seemed to feel that whatever Kenshin wanted to ask her, it would be serious; hence she waited apprehensively.  An innocent lapse of almost casual silence began to become tense as both of them maintained their silence.

Kenshin finally found his voice. "Sessha…"

******************************************

"And then what happened?" Megumi asked while dipping a meatball into the boiling oil using a pair of chopstick. 

"Sano appeared" Kenshin answered.

"AND?" Megumi turned to take another uncooked meatball from a bowl.

"It ended there and then"

Megumi almost drop the meatball on the floor. "WHAT?! It ended just like that?!"

"Sano did ask sesha about dinner…"

"Mou! I meant the conversation between you and her"

"As sessha said, it ended just like that"

Megumi pointed to him using the chopsticks, with the meatball still sandwiched between them. "You should have kicked him out or done anything to chase him away, at least for a while"

Kenshin was about to answer her when the meatball between the chopsticks fell. "DAMN!" Megumi cursed while trying to pick up the rolling food. 

"Sessha thinks that maybe Kaoru-dono was just a bit tired lately from her training "

Megumi stopped to stare at him for a second before resuming her chase. 

******************************************

Kaoru jabbed at the rice in the bowl using her chopsticks aimlessly. In the background, Sanosuke and Yahiko were bickering about who should have the last fish that was left on the plate while Kenshin tried to calm them down and Megumi watched the whole proceeding. Finally, she put down her bowl.

"Minna," she began, "Would you stop fighting? I can't see why the two of you have to fight just to have one measly fish" 

"Ugly's right, rooster. We shouldn't fight over it," Yahiko said in agreement.

"Oh? And what do you think we should do?"

"We can settle it like civilized men"

"Civilized men? A brat and a rooster? This I've got to see" Megumi said, adding her thought.

"Che, kitsune no onna, don't you…"

"A Fox-lady, am I?" Megumi turned her face away indignantly. "Such an ungentlemanly thing to say"

"Huh?!…But…"

"Quit paying attention to the her," Yahiko interjected. "We have to settle about the fish, remember?"

"Right on, kid"

Yahiko glowered at him for a second. "I'll pretend not to hear that. First, let's agree on one thing"

"And what is that?"

"Both of us agree that the fish should given to me"

"Hey!"

Both Sanosuke and Yahiko got into another round of fighting. Kaoru sighed. "As far as I can recall, I don't remember the two of them two fighting over a fish before"

"Kaoru-dono, sessha knows why they didn't fight before," Kenshin said while smiling timidly.

"And why is that?"

"While you were in the kitchen, Yahiko mentioned to me that the fish don't taste like firewood today"

"Is that so…"

A hand grabbed a still fighting Yahiko by his collar. Yahiko struggled and twisted violently until he came face to face with a smiling Kaoru. Instinctively, Yahiko knew that something was wrong. "What?" he demanded.

Kaoru made him turn to face Kenshin. "Is it true what Kenshin said, YA-HI-KO-KUN?"

Yahiko groaned at Kenshin's inability to shut his mouth

"Yosha! That's the spirit; Jo-chan. Beat him up. It's a good thing that I only said that the fish you cooked tastes like charcoal"

A fish still on its plate was thrown hard at Sano's face to silence him.

Kaoru pouted and sat down to continue eating. Meanwhile, their injuries forgotten, Sanosuke and Yahiko continued their disagreement, moving on to another food. Megumi looked at all of them, thinking. And then she put her arm on Kenshin. "Ne, Ken-san? It's a good thing I came back to keep you company. You would've been bored by them. Ohohohoho"

"Megumi-dono…," Kenshin wondered why Megumi had to start another problem during dinner. He closed his eyes and prepared for any kind of projectile aimed at his head.

It never came.

Kenshin opened his eyes to see a small serene smile on Kaoru's lips as she looked at everyone else. His trained ears pick up something that resembled a sigh of contentment coming out of her mouth. Then in an instant Kaoru was tugging at his arm while Megumi tugged at another. The already chaotic dinner became a slugfest.

After dinner, Kenshin was washing the plates when Megumi approached him from behind. Expecting her to do something, he moved away. "Sorry, Megumi-dono, but sessha is doing the dishes and hoped that sessha wouldn't be disturbed. Anyway, Kaoru-dono would probably be angry"

"That's the reason why I'm here, Ken-san"

"Oro? Sessha is not sure why Megumi-dono would do it if you know she would be angry"

Megumi clenched her arms. "Ken-san, you just don't get it, do you?"

"Oro?"

"What I did just now was intentional. I believe you can see for yourself about what I told you this afternoon"

The goofy expression on Kenshin's face was replaced with a serious and thoughtful one. He began slowly," Megumi-dono, the only thing different I noticed about her was the brief look of joy on her face" He wiped dry a bowl using a piece of rag. "Sessha thinks that's perfectly normal. Sessha wonders whether Megumi-dono is overreacting"

Megumi was quiet for a moment. "Actually, she knew that you would be looking at her to gauge her reactions to me holding your hand," she said quietly. 

"…… sessha doesn't know how that is possible"

Megumi chuckled softly while shaking her head. "You are one of the best swordsmen in Japan, but there is one weakness in your technique that even I can figure out. You are quite rigid in applying your skills outside battles. Haven't you realized that you WILL look at her every time you want to gauge her reaction?"

"……"  

"Even I noticed it. You did it to prepare yourself to act dumb and goofy when she hit you or threw something at you, right?"

"……"

"I thought so," Megumi said while crossing her arms.  "I saw something in her eyes I don't understand while you were being distracted by me"

"What does Megumi-dono mean by that?"

"The truth is, Kaoru knows that you will be worried if there's something amiss. It is understandable that she wants you to see that's she's all right. However she would never have thought that kitsune no onna would be concerned about her. It is true that I would like to tease her, but that's because…" Megumi bit her lip, letting the sentence die.  "Anyway, I do care about her, and just now, even as we fought, I feel… that something… is wrong. I can't describe it, but I…"

"I think," Megumi continued, "that this… GASP!"

Kenshin turned his attention on to Megumi to see that she was staring outside one of the kitchen windows. He quickly looked out the same direction to see that she was looking at a tree. With the wind blowing gently outside, it moved, creating a life-like movement.

"Sorry. I thought I saw something," Megumi said as she laughed nervously. "I never thought I would be scared by a moving branch.  I better prepare some tea to sooth my nerves" With that she began to search for the teapot and tea. Meanwhile, Kenshin tuned himself to his inner instinct to find any foreign kenki inside the dojo's compound. All he could feel was his and Megumi's in the kitchen, Sano and Yahiko's in one of the rooms and Kaoru's at the front yard. Finally satisfied, he continued his cleaning. 

******************************************

Kaoru looked around her, only to see trees and shadows. Everything was pitch black. She looked at the sky to see that it was covered with a blanket of darkness. Panic-stricken, she began to run, hopping to leave the place. But even as she ran through the forest, with tree branches scratching her skin and soiling her yukata, the darkness followed her relentlessly, as if wanting to consume her. As her feet took her forward, winds howled in her ears, whispering taunts and threats.

Determined to run away as far away as possible, she kept running until she managed to exit the forest and reach a clearing. Kaoru stopped and rested her hands on her knees, as she gasped for breath. 

_'Kaoru,'_ a voice hauntingly similar to hers called out.

"Who are you?" she wailed while putting her hands on her head, trying to exorcise the voice.

_'Are you sure you really don't know me? I thought you and I were friends. We used to be together'_ the voice replied sadly.

"No! I don't know you"

Then everything around Kaoru disappeared, leaving her in a world of darkness.

_'Now do you remember?'_

Kaoru stood transfixed. She felt as if she had experienced the situation before. Before she could say anything, her surroundings changed, and Kaoru found herself on a street in a city. The street looked familiar, but she couldn't tell as the buildings around her were engulfed in flames. Kaoru felt that someone was behind her. She turned to see that there was no one.

_'This is what I am,' _the voice whispered near her ear. Kaoru turned to see that she was alone. She turned around, but there was no one beside her. The flames kept burning. Then, in an instance, the flame flared heavenward, turning the blue sky into yellowish hue. Kaoru could only watch as the atmosphere burned away, leaving dark traces where the flames were. When the flames finally extinguished themselves, she once again found herself in total darkness.

Kaoru tried to move but couldn't. Her hands and legs were tied. Then a ray of light appeared as a door opened, enough to reveal to her that she was inside a dark room.  With eyes squinting, unused to the light, she could make out four shadows standing at the door.

"This is the useless bait we will use," the first person said.

"Hahahaha. Do you think it will be enough?" the second man replied.

"She will be more than enough to get him here" the first man walked toward her, with gleam in his eyes. "But while waiting for him, I can have some fun toying with her" He took a menacing step toward her. His three friends followed suit.

Then suddenly screams of death could be heard everywhere. The man and his partner withdrew their swords, waiting. A shadow appeared at the door, holding a sword. Kaoru tried to look at the man, but her eyes were still unused to the light. However, she could smell the metallic smell of blood coming from him.

"Huh. So you finally came," the third man said.

The shadow stood there, saying nothing.

"Maybe the stupid sentries we posted outside are no match for you. But do you think that you can defeat the four of us?"

No answer was given. 

The four men unsheathed their swords. "Everybody, ATTACK!!" the first man said. With that command, his three men dashed toward the newcomer.

The sole swordsman just stood his ground. A second later, blood splattered the whole room including the bound girl as the four aggressors fell. Even though her vision was still fuzzy, she recognized the technique that the man used. "No. It couldn't be… No…," she said while trying to block out what her brain was trying to tell her. "NOOOOO!" She screamed on top of her lungs.

A second later, Kaoru found herself in her dojo compound. A pair of hands touched her shoulders, causing shock to course through her body. The hands were gentle, yet she somehow dreaded them. The hands pushed her toward the dojo. Even as she tried to will herself not to walk inside, her feet continued taking one step at a time toward the dojo's open door. 

A drop of water splashed itself on her nose. A second later another one landed on her shoulder. Kaoru looked toward the sky to see more and more drops of water coming down. "It's raining" _'Yes. Don't you remember what the rain signifies?' _Kaoru nodded reluctantly.Lightning flashed and thunder crashed above her. Normally, they would cause her to run for shelter, but she was tired, physically and mentally. Instead, she continued walking, with the hands guiding her. But the steps taken by her became smaller and smaller until she came to a full stop. Her slender body shivered as her wet yukata continued to be drenched by the falling rain.

'_Why are you stopping? Come inside'_

"Please let me be. Onegai," Kaoru said meekly, pleading for the specter to leave her.

_'No. Not until you understand about me'_

This time the hands pushed her forcefully into the dojo. As she entered through the front door, she could hear the sound of swords clashing. Fear surged through her veins and she dashed to the training hall.

Two men were fighting each other. One of them had red hair while the enemy he was facing wore a police uniform.

"Kenshin"

Kenshin ignored her and lunged toward Saitou who also launched an attack. Sparks flew as their swords met in a deadlock. Then the two of them jumped away and starred at each other.

"KENSHIN!!"

The red-haired rurouni looked at her, but there was something wrong with the look that he was giving her. There was no usual soft look like he normally gave her; instead she found herself looking into a pair of angry eyes.  There was another thing wrong with the eyes. They were purple in shade.

"What do you want, woman?" he hissed.

"Ken… Kenshin?!" she asked, her voice and state of mind faltering.

"What do you want now, KAORU-DONO?" he said while emphasizing the suffix part. 

 "I…"

"Do you want to know what you are all this time?"

Kaoru were unable to open her mouth to answer.

"You are a BURDEN to me"

The words cut through her being, inflicting injuries where a sword wouldn't.  Tears rolled of from her eyes.

"Now, be useful and keep quiet" Kenshin turned to face Saitou. 

"Are you done, Himura?" Saitou asked.

Kenshin settled into a battou-jutsu stance as a reply. Kaoru knew the attack that he was going to attempt.  Meanwhile, Saitou had settled into a slightly different Gatotsu pose. Time passed slowly as they each waited for the other to make his move. Then it happened.

Kaoru could clearly see as Kenshin began to execute his succession move. Meanwhile, Saitou also launched his. To her shock, she was given a glimpse of the outcome of the battle. Even as they were of some distance from her, she managed to close the distance as she moved at a surreal speed.

She tried to position herself between them as she held out her arms to stop them. But they didn't slow down. She felt her body being pierced from behind by Saitou's sword while Kenshin's sword slashed her from the front.

As she slowly fell down on the floor with blood gushing out of her, she was hit with the realization that the pain she felt from her injuries would never match the torment inflicted on her by what Kenshin had said to her.

_'You are a BURDEN to me'_

_'Kenshin…'_

"Kaoru-dono! Daijouka?"

Kaoru opened her eyes to look into Kenshin's. She smiled as she noted the concern in them. This was the Kenshin she had known and come to care for deeply. As her eyes adjusted themselves to the darkness of the room, she turned to look around her.

She's in her own room, lying on her futon. Cricket sounds outside of the house told her that it was night.

"Em. I am all right, Kenshin"

Kenshin wiped away sweat on her forehead with a piece of cloth. "What happened, Kaoru-dono?"

"I was just having a dream. A bad dream, that's all"

"Are you sure you're fine?" Kenshin asked, unconvinced, as he wiped her tears. 

Kaoru's mind reeled back to the scenes in the dream where she was held hostage and Kenshin's fight with Saitou in her dojo. "I'm fine" _'Was it Kenshin that I saw in the room? If not, why did the technique seem familiar'_ "Don't worry Kenshin, everything is fine," she assured him unconvincingly.

___________________________________________________________________________

Translation:

Tadaima           :           (I'm) home

Okaerinasai     :           Welcome home.

Kitsune no onna:         Fox lady

Onegai             :           Please

Daijouka          :           (Are you) all right?

**Notes**

I suggest reading this chapter while listening to Sekihotai theme (or similar music). Try it and tell me whether the story seems better with the music or not.  I'm a bit curious to whether it will affect the reading. As for me, it seems that using appropriate music does affect the writing to some extent. As for the Japanese words, I did my best to explain their meaning from the context. But tell me if you don't understand any of them at all. Doing away with the Japanese language is quite hard as I will use Japanese names for the fighting techniques. 

Right now I feel a bit like Yahiko in my story. Oh well, I hope this chapter is good enough, as this is the reincarnation of the chapter 3.

_This chapter and its proto chapter were checked by Fujifunmum. _


	5. Chapter 4

**_Suenagaku_****_ na Aki_**

**Chapter 4**

Somewhere near Tokyo, 

Chou covered his nose while trying to have a look at the decomposing body. Even though he was a seasoned ex-Juppongatana, he had problems looking at mutilated bodies, even the ones he had killed himself. Beingassigned to examine murder sites everyday since he arrived at Hokkaido with Saitou didn't do much to help his already dampened mood. "Why do I have this stinking job?"

"Stop whining like a baby"

Chou was surprised to find that Saitou was behind him.

"What are you waiting for? Turn the body over? so we can identify him"

Chou looked at Saitou with an expression that questioned his sanity.

"Ahou. It is evident now that your claim of having killed 200 men is a lie" Using his boot, Saitou pushed the body so that it turned to face upward. "Hmm…"

"Do you know him?"

"Tani from the Choushuu faction. Eats like a pig and smelled like a rat. No wonder his stench can be smelled from a distance"

"But who killed him and the others?" Chou asked loudly while gesturing to some covered bodies around the area. A few policemen who were busy doing their work stopped to listen.

Saitou didn't answer the question. Instead he gave Tani's body a closer look. He noticed that the body is was missing an arm from the elbow onwards. He bent over to look at the part where the arm should have been to find that there was something odd there. Saitou stood up and gestured toward a police officer. "You there"

"Yes sir?" the police officer acknowledged politely.

"What's your name?"

"Edogawa Hyoga, sir"

"I was told you are quite experienced with animals"

"It depends, sir"

"Come here and have a look at this injury"

The police officer came over and covered his nose while looking at the spot where Saitou pointed. "They are called maggots, sir. We can usually find them on rotten bodies. And they will grow up to become flies"

Saitou suppressed the sudden urge to grind the policeman's face to the body using his boot. "Look at the marks on the injury"

The policeman examined the injury closer. "There is some kind of bite marks"

Saitou satisfied himself by kicking the poor officer in his rear. "Tell me, what animal caused the bite mark?"

Hyoga's face would have stumbled upon the maggots had he not supported himself using his hands. Knowing that Saitou meant business, he examined the wound carefully, making sure that his judgement couldn't be brought into question. Finally, he stood up while rubbing his painful rear. "They were caused by canines, sir. They could be wolves, foxes or even dogs" 

"Do you have any way of finding out whether he was killed by the animals or he lost his arm to a hungry wolf which happened to stray nearby?"

The officer rubbed his chin in deep thought.

"Well?"

The officer still kept on rubbing his chin. "We can open his clothes but…"

Saitou pushed his subordinate "Chou, you do it"

"ME?"

"I'll have you replaced by him if you won't do it"

Chou silently cursed Saitou and ripped Tani's clothes from his cold body. He then stepped aside so that Hyoga could examine the body. Saitou also approached it so that he could have a look at the body. A few minutes passed before Hyoga stood up. "I think he died from the wound made the animals"

"You mentioned 'animals'. What makes you so sure there are more than one?"

"There are different bite marks. I also concluded that different from that unlike the other victims, the killer may have intentionally let this man off, and then had him hunted by the animals"

Chou snorted. "How do you know about that? Did the fatso whispered to you about that himself? Is that why you were leaning so closely to him just now? "

"Ahou. Even that dimwitted rooster-head in Kamiya dojo would be tell you that Tani was running from them just by looking at the bite marks on his rear and back"

"Rooster is in Japan? I thought that he was running away"

Saitou ignored him, making him look like a fool in the process. "So whatever your name is, do you think the animals that caught him were well trained?"

"My name is Hyoga, sir"

"Whatever"

"They are probably trained to hunt prey. That is why we can see that Tani's body and the others were not eaten by them"

"You are overlooking the arm"

"I don't know why the arm was missing. Perhaps the hunting dogs' owner allowed the arm to be eaten as a reward for them"

Saitou thought for a while. Chou who was quite bored nearby put in a remark, "I couldn't see why Tani's and the others are still here"

Saitou turned to him "What's your point?" 

"This place is well known for wild and vicious animals"

"And?"

"Since Hyoga here mentioned that the reason arm is missing because the owner let the dogs have them. So minus the arm, we have here something that is like a feast to the animals living here. Therefore, I wonder why they left these bodies alone"

Saitou's eyebrows knitted. "I see. The killers wanted us to find the bodies. But why?" He thought for a few seconds. Then he cracked a dangerous smile. Chou felt a sudden chill in his veins seeing Saitou's smile. Saitou turned toward the police officer and made a dismissive gesture. Hyoga politely took his leave.

"So now they already know that we have discovered the bodies," Saitou said when Hyoga was out of earshot.

"What?! Where are they?"

Saitou put his hand on Chou's head and forced him to look in a direction. At first, all Chou could see was a bush. But after a few seconds, he noticed that there was a pair of eyes peering from it.

"Next time, leaving their heads will be enough," Saitou said, clearly directed at the person hiding behind the bush. The bush moved a bit, as if the person behind inside it nodded its head in acknowledgement. Then the eyes began to disappear, meaning that their owner was leaving the place.

Chou wanted to start after the peeping tom, but Saitou hold his shirt. "Where are you going?"

Chou pointed toward the bush. 

"By the time you got there, he would have disappeared into the forest"

"But… But… But…"

"We have to bring the bodies back to our base in Tokyo"

"And Battousai?" 

"What about him?" Saitou asked back casually.

Chou smirked when he was sure Saitou couldn't see him. Despite Saitou saying that the Battousai was no more, Chou knew that his superior did hope that the hitokiri side of the man named Himura Kenshin would emerge once more so that the debt between them could be finally be settled.

"As you wish. We will bring the bodies back to Tokyo and keep Battousai out of this"

"Not 'we'. I'm going to Kyoto"

"Kyoto?"

"Kyoto"

Saitou brought a cigarette to his lip and set it alight. "Shinomori may have some information"

***************************************************************************

Ukyo, one of the Orochi's kensais let himself slump on the wall of his room. He was surprised at Saitou's discovery about the injury on the bodies. He let out a long sigh. Then he turned his head toward the ceiling.

"Okay, how long have I been unaware of your presence up there?" he asked wearily. 

A female ninja dropped on a tatami mat near him. "Enough to kill you 30 times and prepare some tea and cakes"

Ukyo let out a small laugh. "Sometimes I wonder whether you're being sarcastic or just humorous"

"I was not joking about that"

Ukyo looked at her for a second and laughed again. "That's exactly what I meant"

"Uhuh…"

"Okay, okay. You are very good. Satisfied? But as good as you are, you have a major defect"

"…What is it?"

"You don't know how to use the front door"

"……"

"And that annoys me. Now, with you around, I have to keep myself properly clothed even when I'm asleep"

"If it helps, I would like you to know the fact that a female friend of Battousai managed to find me out. And she is only an unarmed doctor, untrained in any combat skill whatsoever"

"HUH! Dumb luck!"

The female ninja smiled "Why are you so grouchy today? Are you missing your puppies already?"

"No. Saitou"

"Hmm…"

"He found out about the bite marks"

"So he should"

"That's not it"

"What do you mean?"

"The killing, although my dogs were involved, I'm not the one who directed them"

"So?"

"So, the fool who commanded my dogs neglected to restrain them from eating one hand from of the killed officials. I was puzzled when a few of them got sick"

The female ninja stood. "Sorry, I have no time to hear your sob stories. You know very well that you can find out who did it just by asking around. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go"

"Go where? And you haven't told me the reason you're here yet"

"I'm going to visit some family members"

"YOU HAVE A FAMILY?" Ukyo was startled by her revelation as only Orochi knew about her background. 

"I will tell about our assignment once I got get back" She began walking toward the door.

Ukyo would not let the opportunity of finding out about her family slip by. "Hey! Wait up!"

*********************************************

They traveled for two and a half days until they reached a forest. Ukyo walked in front of the female ninja just as she was about to enter the dark and creepy place. "Let me get this straight. Your family," Ukyo said while pointing toward the forest," lives in there? Inside this dark, gloomy and spooky place?"

Ukyo was shoved out of the way. The female ninja continued walking into the forest. Sighing, Ukyo followed her, this time without saying anything. They walked for about a half an hour until she stopped. Wanting to know why she stopped, Ukyo went for a better look. He saw some gravestones. Behind him, the female ninja recited her prayer silently. 

After she had finished praying, she turned and walked out the way she came. As Ukyo got to her left side, she looked at him for a moment before looking ahead. "They died during their mission," she offered.

"And you were there?"

"No. I only found out about their deaths after a month"

"The killer?"

She shook her head. "Doesn't matter. Ninjas dying while carrying out their duty are normal. We were not taught to exact revenge for such a death"

"So why do you come here then?"

"To ask them for forgiveness"

"Forgiveness?"

"For what I'm going to do"

"Which one?"

She looked at Ukyo. "All of them"

"All of them?"

"That doesn't concern you. What you should know is tomorrow our leader will begin his attack"

___________________________________________________________________________

Author's notes

1. Sorry for not updating this story for quite some time, but I'm quite occupied with something lately. And it seems that I will only have time after 5th of October. Anyway, seems to me that there are only a handful of people that reads this story judging by their reviews. :-p Anyway, Sorry

2. In case you are wondering about the part where the female ninja said something about Megumi spotting her, it's in chapter 3 where Kenshin and Megumi were in the kitchen after dinner.

3. I know this fact has no relevance to the story, but I have to say that I really like some of the characters I created. :-p

_This chapter was checked by Fujifunmum. _


	6. Chapter 5

**_Suenagaku na Aki_**

**Chapter 5**

Okina rubbed his bruised head and wondered what the women were so angry about. He was going to take his bath, not spying on them. He could not have known that Omasu was in there. He tried to explain to the enraged woman and Misao who was stoking the fire for the bath, but all he received in reply were burning sticks and anything else both women could get their hands on to throw at him. 

A pigeon suddenly appeared on the window. A piece of rolled paper was tied to one of its legs. 

Okina shrugged. He hadn't received such a letter for a long time. Of course, there was the time when he helped Himura, but that letter was more meant for Himura than for him. While gently holding the pigeon so that it couldn't fly away with one hand, Okina untied the roll of paper with the other. As his other hand released the pigeon, he opened the letter to read its content. While he was reading it, his silvery eyebrows raised themselves. After he has finished reading it, he slowly put it down, smiling. 

****************************************

Misao blotted her hair with a towel, drying it. She hoped that Okina didn't get to so mad at Omasu and herself for over-reacting a little bit that he planned on running away from the Aoiya. _'Okina. So mad at us that he wants to run away? I don't think so. Wait. IT WAS I WHO RAN AWAY. To find Aoshi-sama' _Misao didn't realize that her face turned crimson thinking about Aoshi.

"Thinking about Aoshi again, eh Misao? Or were you thinking about my manly body just now?"

Misao's body tensed. Okina sure hadn't learn his lesson. Then she noticed something strange about him. 

"Why are you wearing the Oniwabanshuu's uniform? And the tonfas. Is there something I should know?" Misao asked while eyeing him suspiciously.

"Ehem. Aoshi was bored with meditating in the temple and wanted my help to smash his face to the ground. So that's why he sent for me"

"Are you sure he said that? That sure doesn't sound like him at all"

"Of course he doesn't sound like that. I purposely make the sentence longer and colorful. Or do you prefer _'I need to practice'? _Anyway, I'm quite glad that now he has loosened up a bit. _"_

"I want to follow you to the training"

"NO!"

"Nani?" Misao couldn't believe Okina would raise his voice at her.

"No, er… I mean, after the both of us have trained, who is going to prepare tea for Aoshi and me?" Okina put his hand on his goatee, pretending to think. "Hmm… I suppose Omasu or even Okon can do it. Okay, go and tell Okon to prepare tea when we come back"

"Wait. Can't I prepare the tea for him now?" Misao protested

"And let me drink cold tea when I come back?"

"I don't see anything wrong with that"

Okina sighed. "Don't forget Aoshi-sama…" 

"But…"

"Sometimes I swear Okon looks at Aoshi with a gleam in her eyes…"

"All right, all right, I get the message. I'll stay"

Okina smiled at Misao's pouting face and walked through the Aoiya's front door.

****************************************

Okina walked leisurely toward the waiting Aoshi. He then halted a few steps in front of him.

"Sorry I'm late. I got lost walking in this big forest. I'm getting old, you know"

"It doesn't matter", Aoshi answered. "Let us drop the acting part" 

"Me acting? Cough! Cough! These days, younger people just don't respect their elders now. Just now Misao and Omasu hit me after I accidentally walked into the bath. And now I have you scolding me"

Aoshi ignored his reply. "I know you're just pretending to get lost; in reality you checked this area before appearing in front of me"

Okina raised his eyebrows. His face turned into a scowl. "You accuse me of acting; and here you're masquerading as Aoshi. You even managed to copy his handwriting almost entirely. Had I been less alert, I would have been fooled"

The fake Aoshi just nodded. "Although it would have been possible to duplicate your group's secret coded signals, I chose not to because of personal reasons. So I was sure you would have found out that I am an impostor even before you finished reading the letter"

"What makes you so sure you that you could duplicate the Oniwabanshuu's secret signals?"

'Aoshi' smiled mysteriously. "Does it matter? What matters now is that you're here. I have some questions I would like to ask of you before I kill you"

"Heh. Such arrogance"

"No, not arrogance. It is just that I have total confidence in my skill and power. But to be fair, I will let you ask me any questions you want to ask, so that you will not die an ignorant death"

"Is that so? Then my first question is what makes you sure that I would have come alone?"

"Your group is not the only one that has reconnaissance capability"

Okina took a long breath. The man in front of him would be very difficult to defeat. "Well then, what's your name?"

"Watashi wa Orochi. As you can discern from my name, I am the leader of the Orochi group"

Okina noted that the way Orochi answered his question. It was clear that this man has been raised in an aristocratic way. "The Serpent. So, the hidden clan emerges at last. What does its leader want from an old man like me?"

"I will answer that one a bit later. As for what do I really want, actually I want revenge"

"Revenge?" Okina tried to think of any instance where both groups might have come across each other.

"Yes. To be exact, I want to have my revenge by conquering the whole of Japan" Orochi answered as if he was talking about the weather.

"Japan?" _'He's mad!'_

Orochi laughed, not bothering to imitate Aoshi's voice anymore. "Perhaps you are thinking that I am crazy. It is of no consequence. I do not care much for what people say, anyway. Since I have already answered your questions, I hope you will now answer mine"

Okina remain quiet, neither agreeing nor disagreeing to the request.

"Were you in Tokyo during the rebellion in Satsuma which was led by Takamori three years ago?"

Okina could not understand why he had something to do with the rebellion, or why he was supposed to be in Tokyo at that time. "What do you mean?"

"It seems that you have more questions for me. Very well, I will answer you so that you can answer my question"

****************************************

Misao could see Aoshi walking toward Aoiya from a distance. She quickly ran toward the kitchen and boiled some water. Just as Aoshi entered the restaurant, a cup of piping hot tea was waiting for him. 

"Okaerinasai, Aoshi-sama"

"Aa. Tadaima, Misao

"You must have been tired from training with Okina. By the way, where is he?" Misao said as she handed the tea to him.

"I didn't train with him" Aoshi said simply as he took a sip of the tea. Then his expression changed as he looked at Misao's puzzled look. Cup hastily put on the floor, he ran toward Okina's room. Misao followed him from behind, not sure what he was thinking. Aoshi quickly searched Okina's room, turning over everything there.

"Search for any kind of clue. QUICKLY!" 

Misao spurred into action, although she didn't know what it was that she was supposed to search for. They searched the room thoroughly, but didn't find anything.

"What's wrong, Aoshi-sama?"

Aoshi turned toward her for a moment before looking around in case he may [might] have missed something. "He may have left a message or something"

Although still unsatisfied with Aoshi's answer, Misao suggested to him, "Maybe he left a message in your room"

Aoshi dashed toward his room while Misao followed. Once inside, he searched around quickly. But it was Misao who noticed a folded paper under his futon. She handed it to Aoshi who then smoothed out the paper to read it.

"BAKAYAROU!" 

Misao rarely see heard Aoshi swear, but before she could say anything, Aoshi sprinted out of the Aoiya. Misao quickly ran after him.

****************************************

"To finish the story, the killing of my men has disrupted my plan. While I was surprised and very angry at the time, I realized that achieving victory by sneak attack would have been very easy. Even Shishio could have done it. No. What I need is something better than that. I want to openly declare to my enemies that I want to conquer Japan and challenge them to stop me from doing so. So, I would like to meet the killer and thank him for making me realize that. Also, if possible, I would like to have a duel with him to pit my strength and technique against his. So please answer my question, did you or did you not kill them?"

Okina smiled nonchalantly. "Hmm… I'm not sure… I do have trouble remembering what happened yesterday, so how can I be sure what I did three years ago?"

"It is obvious that you do not want to answer me. Very well, there is only one thing left to settle between the two of us"

"I was hoping you would say that. I was beginning to get sleepy listening to your story". Okina got into a defensive pose. 

"Then let us wait no more" Orochi got into an attacking position after unsheathing his sword. "I, Orochi and user of Orochi Awasekagami-ryu (Serpent's reversed mirror principle) challenge you to a fight"

"Aa. I, Okina of the Oniwabanshuu accept"

Orochi changed his stance. "Gen'ei kagami : Gatotsu (Phantom mirror: Fang thrust)"

Okina's eyes became widened as he has heard about the attack's name and realized the speed with which it was executed. Not wanting to be skewered by his opponent's attack he blocked it using his left tonfa, changing the direction of the thrust upward. Orochi lost his balance, leaving a chance an opening for Okina to attack using his right tonfa. A precision strike to the stomach caused Orochi to retreat a few steps.

"I seem to have underestimated you. I was hoping to kill you quickly", Orochi said while clutching his stomach. "Your age does not really affect your fighting prowess. No wonder you were elected to replace the former Oniwabanshuu's Okashira"

"Aa. But I assure you, there's a lot more where that came from"

"My words exactly"

They continued their fight. Even as Orochi attacked using techniques he had copied from other swordsmen, Okina defended and counterattacked, hoping to stall for time. Initially, he was reluctant to leave the letter under Aoshi's bed informing him of where he was going. But in the end, he decided to do so. As he narrowly avoided an attack to his head, he was glad that he did. Then all of the sudden, Orochi stopped attacking and stood his ground, as if waiting for something.

"What are you up to?" Okina asked warily.

Orochi just smiled and just closed his eyes as in response. Okina waited apprehensively. "Why don't we take a brief respite from our fight?" Orochi asked him. Okina wondered what his motive could be, but he kept quiet. A minute passed before Orochi opened his eyes and looked toward the sky. Okina followed suit and saw a red firework illuminating the dark sky for a moment. When he looked back at Orochi, he saw that his opponent was deep in thought. Then Orochi focused his attention toward Okina and smiled once more. The old Oniwabanshuu ninja found himself hating the that smile more and more.

"Let us continue our fight" Orochi said while jumping toward Okina. Okina prepared himself for an attack that didn't materialize. Instead, Orochi landed a few meters from him and executed a ground based attack.

"Gen'ei kagami: Kaiten Kenbu (Phantom mirror: Spinning sword dance)"

Orochi disappeared behind images of himself which surrounded Okina, while encircling him at great speed. Okina stood still.

"Are you having a problem attacking me, Okina?"

Okina kept on waiting. He knew sooner or later, Orochi would have to attack, as performing the sword dance technique for an extended period can exhaust its user's energy. Just as predicted, Orochi appeared from behind. Okina saw the sword and held up his right tonfa to block it. 

The attack did not come. Instead a leg kicked his right hand, causing Okina's chest to become exposed momentarily. Orochi grinned and performed another attack. "Hatsugane (Forged iron)" Okina's face changed, as he could not believe that a sword had embedded itself inside his body. Then he gritted his teeth and tried to hold the sword, but it was not already there.

Orochi examined his bloodied sword. "You even managed to deflect my attack at the last moment so that it would not hit any of your vital organs. That is quite impressive. However, that attack has weakened you"

The injured old man tried his best to stand straight amidst the blood gushing out from his wound. Doing that was hard as he found his vision blurring and sense of direction beginning to fail him. "Stop talking and let's finish this!" he hissed.

"Pity. From our fight, now I am sure that you were not the one who sabotaged my plan. It would have been a waste of time for me coming here if I didn't have any other intention" He shrugged. "Well, I tried to give you a chance, but it seems that you made some errors in judgement"

"What…… do…… you mean?" Okina's voice was weak and hoarse.

"First, you miscalculate my strength. You think that I'm as strong as you are. The truth is," Orochi said while slashing a big tree on his right side, "I'm at least as strong as Shinomori, if not stronger" The tree he slashed came crashing down on the forest floor, shaking the ground. "Of course, if I had come alone, you would not have made that assumption. Second, you didn't take into account that he would have some difficulty locating us"

"You mean…"

Orochi laughed softly. "Yes. I was also waiting for his arrival. Unfortunately, I have to finish you now as I have an urgent matter to attend to"

"The red firecracker…"

"How observant. But now is the time for me to bid you goodbye. Gen'ei kagami : Ryusousen" Okina closed his eyes, realizing that was nothing he could do to stop that attack.

The attack never came. Instead, he heard sound the sound of metal clashing. Okina opened his eyes to see two Aoshis fighting. The only difference between the two of them was that one of them used two kodachi instead of a sword.

"Aoshi… What kept you?" Okina said while smiling weakly as he began to pass out from loss of blood. Misao hurried to him and used her body as a support to prevent him from collapsing to the ground.

"Misao, take care of Okina's wound. I will cover you"

"That is not necessary, the REAL Okashira of Oniwabanshuu" Orochi said, imitating Aoshi's voice while sheathing his sword. He then turned to leave the battlefield. 

"Wait, impostor!" Misao shouted. He stopped. "You will not leave this place" Hearing this, Orochi shook his head and smiled, but continued walking. "Don't say I didn't warn you. Kan Satsu Tobi Kunai (Piercing death flying kunais)"

Ten kunais sailed through the air toward Orochi. These kunais differed from the one[ones] she used when she was searching for Aoshi, as they were smaller in size, each one only 15 cm in length. 

Orochi ignored the kunais flying toward him. Just as the kunais were reaching him, they were intercepted by twenty shurikens thrown from somewhere else. But four kunais managed to get through and continued flying toward their target. As if having eyes behind his back, Orochi moved his body and the dangerous weapons whizzed harmlessly pass him.

Misao was very angry and would have attempted another attack, but Aoshi put his hand on her shoulder while shaking his head. He'd already realized when arriving at the scene that there were two kenki aside from Okina's and Orochi's. And seeing how easily Misao's kunais were stopped, he knew that those two could be very dangerous and hard to defeat should they join forces with their leader to attack Misao and him.

Orochi stopped walking once more. "Oh, I've forgotten one more thing. Shinomori, I already know about you receiving the telegram"

Aoshi stared at Orochi's back.

"Aside from you, Saitou also has received one. When you arrive at Tokyo, tell him that I am the one responsible for those attacks"

"What are you implying by telling me this?" Aoshi asked quietly.

"This is more of a challenge to all of you. I want to see whether both Bakufu's and Ishin Shihi's best warriors combined are able to stop me from ruling Japan. Now that I have attacked and defeated one of Oniwabanshuu's members, I can now be assured that you are fully motivated to bring me down"

Aoshi's yellowish and piercing eyes belied their owner's anger. "If you want me to come after you, you only have to ask. Don't involve anyone else" he hissed.

Orochi chuckled. "Do not take it personally" He turned back to them, smiling. "If I really wanted to get to you, I would have attacked her" he said while pointing to Misao. "Do not you agree that Makimachi's death would have affected you more than Okina's injury, Shinomori?"

"KISAMAAAAA…" Without further warning, Aoshi attacked. Orochi just jumped away and landed near Misao. Misao turned to attack using her backhand, but he shifted to her other side. Undaunted, she twisted her body to attempt a roundhouse kick, but was stopped when she looked into his eyes. The young ninja became panicked as she realized that she couldn't move her body.

"Do not move Shinomori! As you can see, she has been rendered immobilized by me. Attack me and you may risk hurting her when I evade your attack"

Aoshi stopped and remained still, knowing that his enemy was right. Seeing that Aoshi has stopped his attack, Orochi pushed Misao's body and she started to tumble toward him. Aoshi quickly ran toward her and clasped her protectively.

"As I said, Shinomori, it is between the Ishinshi's and Bakufu's best swordsmen and me. You and Okina are among them; she is not, well… at least not yet"

"What do you mean, you… you idiot?" Misao asked, safe within Aoshi's arms.

"Ah, such a brave woman. I have seen men wetting their pants after being put into a dangerous situation such as yours. Makimachi Misao. Hmm… You certainly inherited Makimachi's blood" 

Orochi walked to a tree and picked up one of Misao's kunais that had managed to embed itself on the trunk to examine the weapon. "Hmm… this kunai is smaller than the one your group normally uses. It is easier to carry and less susceptible to wind disturbance. But it is harder to throw it perfectly. This shows your mastery of the weapon. If I did not have my ninjas with me, it would have been a bit of a challenge to evade the attack" 

Orochi turned his eyes to Aoshi. "There will be no more attacks on your friends, especially your woman. I hope this pledge will allow you to dedicate your full effort toward defeating me"

Despite being angry, Misao felt herself affected by Orochi's statement regarding her being Aoshi's woman. She glanced at Aoshi before looking back to Orochi to find that he had already gone. She turned back to Aoshi to see him already carrying the unconscious Okina. Aoshi started walking toward Kyoto. Misao followed quietly, knowing that Aoshi needed to think about what has had happened. 

___________________________________________________________________________

_This chapter was checked by Fujifunmum_


	7. Chapter 6

**_Suenagaku_****_ na Aki_******

**Chapter 6**

Aided by the light from a lantern, Aoshi watched quietly as Omasu changed Okina's bandage with Misao's help. With Shiro and Kuro helping to prop up the old man's body while bandage was changed and Okon preparing dinner for the others, there was nothing else that Aoshi could do except sit there. 

"There, all done," Okon announced as she took a step to appraise her handiwork.

"This part doesn't look properly done," Shiro complained while pressing his finger at one spot.

"Yeah, and knot here wasn't tied properly," Misao added while tightening a knot.

"Oi! Don't treat him like a doll," Kuro reminded the two of them. Then he looked at the patient and added, "At least treat him like an old doll"

"……"

"Anyway," Misao began, breaking the silence, "why don't you learn how to treat injuries, Okon? It can come in handy sometimes. And perhaps you can also work on your bandaging skill"

"Don't complain. If I recall correctly, it wasn't me who almost strangled him while bandaging him the last time"

The air in the room was suddenly filled with tension as Omasu realized what she had done. There was no mistaking about the event that led to Okina being injured the last time. Although there was an unspoken promise between all of them to never mention about it again, Omasu was too caught up in the cheerful situation to carefully word her response.

Meanwhile, her female companion risked a look to ascertain Aoshi's reaction. Although Aoshi had never apologized for his actions, she knew that deep down he felt very guilty. And it seemed that what Omasu accidentally said would widen the rift between him and the others.  After a few seconds, she saw Aoshi's mouth begin to move and she began to prepare to counter it. At the same time everyone else in the room was ready to say something to respond to what Aoshi might say.

But Aoshi was faster. In a split second, he had noticed the very slight shift of posture in everyone else and quickly held up his right hand. The action effectively killed the chance to respond prematurely to what he would say. He said quietly, "I was going to suggest that we take turns taking care of Okina"

The tension began to lift as the others digested his suggestion and its hidden meanings. With a short sentence, Aoshi had effectively told them that crowding inside the room at the same time to take care of Okina was not the proper thing to do as it might disturb Okina's recuperation. The sentence also implied that he would take the first turn to keep the bedside vigil.

Everyone else including Misao began to leave the room. Then she stopped and turned toward him to say something.

"I will eat later"

"Hai"

As the door to the room closed, Aoshi began to ponder about the current situation regarding him and the Oniwabanshuu. Aoshi was trained so that he could survive being alone. That ability was crucial to ensure that he would be able to carry out his mission even if all of his comrades were killed. Unfortunately, even the training itself couldn't help Aoshi dispel the out of place feeling he had felt ever since he returned to Aoiya.

Granted, everyone accepted him unconditionally when he appeared in front of the Aoiya with Kenshin and the others. In fact, he was given a hero's welcome.

Aoshi mentally scoffed when he recalled it. He certainly didn't deserve it and would have left at that time if Kenshin hadn't stop him. The former hitokiri did mention something about protecting Aoiya as one of the ways Aoshi could redeem himself.

And a pathetic job he had done protecting it. 

He could still hear what Orochi said to him the night before, _"__That is not necessary, the REAL Okashira of the Oniwabanshuu". The sarcasm of the sentence was not lost on him. Orochi, whoever he was, apparently knew about Misao taking over the title of Okashira of the group, and he was taunting Aoshi for that._

Aoshi gritted his teeth while his hands grasped his knees. Realizing he was losing to his anger, he began to breathe slowly, rhythmically. The breathing helped, as Aoshi felt his anger subsiding. As a more calmed Aoshi emerged, he began to think about his next step, knowing very well that he shouldn't dwell on his past, at least for Misao and the others' sake. After quietly meditating on it, he opened his eyes, as a decision had been made. Then his ears twitched as a very weak sound reached them.

"It took quite a while for you to regain consciousness, Okina"

Okina opened his eyes as he tried to familiarize himself with his surrounding. "How long have I been knocked out?" he croaked.

"A few hours"

"How do you know I have regained consciousness?" despite being in that state, Okina couldn't not resist asking. "My breathing?"

"No. You stopped making that crackling and popping sound"

"Ah" Okina has almost forgotten about the technique which he once frequently used during assassination missions. By listening for crackling and popping sounds from the body joints of a sleeping person, he could tell whether the person was really sleeping or was just pretending. He smiled as he realized that not many ninjas used the technique anymore. In fact, the assassins sent by Shishio could have avoided the trap laid by him and the others if they had used it. But then again, that was one of the many techniques that distinguish the good and the best ninjas.

Okina strained himself to look at his bandaged body. "At least Misao's bandaging has improved a bit. Last time I was wrapped from head to toe"

"Okon did it"

"Oh. In that case, her skill has become worse. At least she still looks cute," Okina laughed at his own feeble attempt at joking before grimacing as he felt pain coursing through his body. "Heh. The Orochi couldn't even kill a fly with his sword"

Aoshi wondered how he was going to start asking Okina about Orochi.

"Oh, by the way, Aoshi, don't tell the others that I'm already awake. I want them to cry at my bed. The look on their face will be priceless"

The younger man didn't say anything and Okina interpreted his response as a promise not to interfere in what Okina was planning to do.

"Now, what is your plan?" Okina asked seriously.

Aoshi looked away from Okina. "I don't know"

Okina's eyes were downcast. "I see. You're still afraid, aren't you?"

"I don't fear him" Aoshi said, referring to Orochi.

"Oh. I was not referring to him. I'm referring to the future of the Oniwabanshuu as a group with you leading it"

Aoshi remembered about his decision a few minutes ago. He decided to keep quiet. Okina coughed, trying to elicit a response after waiting for him, but to no avail. Finally, knowing that he had to speak what was on his mind, Okina began, "Despite what you personally believe, the Oniwabanshuu do need your leadership"

"They receive adequate guidance from you"

'The old man smiled as his words earned him Aoshi's reply. Okina waved his hand over his injuries. "If they think following my example of going to battle without preparation is good, then you might as well prepare for their burials"

"…………they were better off without me"

Okina was stunned by the younger man's words. He had suspected that Aoshi felt out of place at Aoiya, but he wasn't prepared for an open admission from him. Carefully wording his thoughts, Okina replied, "Are you sure about that?"

Aoshi didn't reply, so he continued. "Misao united the group when she felt that without you, the group would eventually crumble. She did a decent job of taking over the job as Okashiraa"

Okina tried unsuccessfully to sit. "But without capable people at its helm, the  Oniwabanshuu will certainly slide into obscurity. Me? I don't know how long I can continue cheating death. It has to be a young man, someone with ample energy and vision. Someone like you" 

He continued before Aoshi could interject. "Yes, Misao is capable, as I said earlier. But there is no denying that she's also very young. And the others lacked the necessary leadership qualities, despite having impressive combat skills. When I suggested you to become the next Okashira, I also had another candidate on my mind. But, unfortunately…" 

Aoshi stopped him by shaking his head. "I need to think", he said.

"Very well, go and think it over. I need my sleep," Okina said while stifling a yawn.

Sliding the door close behind him, the young man headed toward one of his favorite spots when he was small. The roof of Aoiya. Upon reaching there, he saw a lone figure already there, lost in thought. Moving silently on the roof, he made his way and sat beside it.

Misao turned to look as he sat down before resuming her gaze on the city below. But even as she stared toward the distance, she waited silently for the man beside her to speak. As a long period of silence passed, she realized that he wanted to share a quiet moment with her. Misao didn't mind it at all; instead she was looking forward to learn more about Aoshi-sama by doing so. Together, they enjoyed the scenery in front of them in solitude, sometimes glancing heavenward to marvel at the midnight stars.

Suddenly, Misao remembered something. "How's Okina?"

"It is a clear night; we can see many stars"

Misao gapped. Then a smile creased her mouth as she guessed Okina's condition from Aoshi's answer. Aoshi was the type of the man that would place utmost importance on his friends.  To hear him say that or to have him here for that matter signaled that all was well. "Yes. It's a beautiful night"

They continued sitting on the rooftop.

"It was Yuri who showed you this place isn't it?" Aoshi suddenly asked.

"Yuri-neechan……" Misao's thought began to focus on someone she once knew a long time ago. A member of the Oniwabanshuu women who was like an older sister to her. An older sister whom she lost while carrying out a mission for the shogunate. "She brought me here a few times. Sometimes, when I'm here, I can almost feel her presence... as if she is watching me," Misao laughed. "It's pretty foolish, ne Aoshi-sama?"

But Aoshi barely heard her. Instead, he was lost in his muse. He was also thinking about the woman Misao referred to, but for a different reason. He could hear in his head words said to him by her more than 10 years ago after he was elected to lead the group.  _"Our group will rise to its glory even in the darkest hour, Shinomori-taisho.  It will, as long as you're there to lead them"_ He then recalled another thing said to him by her. _"Please don't be too hard on Misao. She likes you a lot, you know, and it will hurt her if you keep being cold and aloof with her"_ Misao cocked her head in confusion when she noticed that Aoshi was giving her a soft look.Despite having made one earlier, Aoshi made a new decision. He stood. "Misao, follow me. We must get the others"

"Ee? Wh…why?"

Aoshi was already gone from the roof.

************************************************************************

Everyone in the Aoiya except for Okina was gathered together, waiting for Aoshi to speak. They were sleeping contently when Misao woke them up. Knowing that it must be something important, they waited for his announcement.

Aoshi looked each one of them in the eyes, watching for any reaction. Then he spoke. "I, Shinomori Aoshi, challenge Makimachi Misao to a duel for the position of the Okashiraa of Oniwabanshuu"

Gasps of surprise echoed throughout Aoiya. Even Misao was unprepared for such an announcement. Why did he have to do such thing? He could just ask… She finally understood why Aoshi did it. The others gasped once more as she smiled and replied, "I accept. But don't expect me to hold back"

It was a very rare moment indeed, but everyone present there at that time didn't miss the small smile Aoshi gave to Misao. "I won't"

************************************************************************

Misao starred at the kodachi in front of her face while Okon, Omasu, Shiro and Kuro watched with concern from the side. With sweat forming on her forehead, she wondered whether she should perform her ultimate attack.

Aoshi knew what she was thinking. "Your ougi is not perfect yet. That, and the slight lag in execution time will make it ineffective.

Misao sighed and threw down her hands. "I submit" She smiled. "Welcome back, Aoshi-sama, the leader of the Oniwabanshuu"

The others cheered.

************************************************************************

Aoshi's eyes were already accustomed to the darkness as he trod along the dark and narrow pathway.  The smell of dried clay and moss from the walls reminded him of the time when he used to come here. Stopping, he put his hand of on  the wall, examining the condition. _"The ceiling and walls will probably last for another 100 years without any efforts to preserve them"_, he thought.

Built before the Tokugawa shogunate came to power, the pathway and the place that he was headed for were located underground, well hidden. Even the members of the Oniwabanshuu didn't know about the exact location; they knew that it existed, but not where it was situated. Only the Okashiraa would be given the small map which would be concealed inside the ceremonial weapon that will be given during the inauguration ceremony. And only he or she will be given the way to decode the map by the former Okashiraa by word of mouth.

Aoshi had never thought about returning here after the Restoration War, but the current situation necessitated him to do it.  After walking for a few minutes, he finally reached a metal door. 

Aoshi arrived at the place.

___________________________________________________________________________

_Name-neechan : Used for one's sister or someone considered like a sister._

Author's notes

1. Sorry for not updating this story for quite some time, but I was, am and will be quite busy. I do want to write the story as best as I can, not as fast as I can. Maybe a laptop as a present will motivate me to write faster! ;-p

2. I have exceeded the 20,000 words mark! Thank you all of you! I would like to dedicate this chapter to Fujifunmun who's the first one to give review to this fic and currently beta-reading my chapters.

3. I would like to extend Happy Eidilfitri and Merry Christmas to all. I was thinking of writing something regarding World Peace and stuffs, but everyone knows that to achieve peace, 'We should focus on the similarities, not the differences' (Anthony Robbins). 

_This chapter was checked by Fujifunmum. _


	8. Chapter 7

**Suenagaku na Aki**

**Chapter 7**

Meanwhile, in a remote location somewhere else,

Neuwindst looked around him in awe as Shingo lead him inside the base. "I never thought that your leader could have put together such a magnificent base of operation," he confessed. It was true that Orochi had an army larger than Shishio, he thought. And discounting the weapons he had supplied, he reasoned that they were also better equipped.

"It is because our group had a much earlier start than the Meiji government"

The German whistled. "You mean that your group has been around for hundreds of years?"

"Yes"

_'Stupid fools. If I'm their leader, I would have ruled __Japan__ for years now with this kind of resource' "So, where is your esteemed leader?"_

Shingo lead him inside a small building. Inside, two men were talking to each other. They turned toward Shingo and Neuwindst.

"Welcome home, Shingo. I see that our foreign friend is coming here with an offer," one of the man said.

Neuwindst grinned. Any doubt he had on proposing an alliance with Orochi was put to rest. "You must be the famed Orochi" He bowed.

Orochi smiled. "And you must be Neuwindst that is well known for selling his mother for 1000 Pounds"

The foreigner's jaw dropped.

"I was only kidding"

"Oh!"

"I heard it was for a 100 Pounds"

"… Ha ha ha. Don't believe what you hear about me. All of those were nasty rumors"

Orochi closed the gap between the two of them. "And how about news about you wanting to join my army?"

Neuwindst put a finger under his chin. "Well, I would not use the word 'join'. Maybe 'alliance' is a better term for it"

Orochi walked around him, examining him as if he was an item on sale. "Very well. Now tell me, Neuwindst. Forgive me for being blunt, but your reputation for being an untrustworthy backstabber precedes you. Of course, you always keep up your bargain whenever you sell something, but it is also known that you had supplied weapons to two warring factions at the same time. What do you have to say to that?"

The German scratched his head. "Hmm. It is true, but I'm only a weapon supplier, not a peace broker. And I didn't sign any pledge of allegiance with any of them. Surely that part of the information hasn't escaped your notice?"

"Good answer. Now, what will you do to ensure that we can trust you?"

Neuwindst was prepared for the question. "Nothing"

Shingo was shocked. "Nothing? Why?"

"Why should I? In fact, maybe it is best for you to assume that I'm bound to betray you at any opportune moment"

Shingo was about to let him have a piece of his mind when Orochi motioned him not to do so. Then his leader extended his hand toward Neuwindst who shook it.

"I am sure we can work together", Orochi said.

"I sincerely hope so"

****************************************

Shingo followed after his master into the room. He had a lot of questions to ask. 

"Yes, Shingo?" 

"Master, tell me. Why do you trust him?"

"I did not say I trusted him"

"But you have accepted his proposal"

"After what he said? Is that it you wanted to say?"

Shingo nodded.

Orochi sat on the floor and began to open a book. "Despite the statement that he has made, he has spoken the truth. At least our relationship with him is defined early on. Anyway, what he had implied is that in any of our planning, we can take into consideration that he will betray us"

"I do not understand" said Shingo, as he stood next to Orochi and tried to puzzle out his actions.

"Simply said, we should not depend on him as if he is one of us"

"Then, why should we accept him in the first place?"

Orochi sighed. Patiently, he explains, "His knowledge of weaponry can be of advantage to us. And like I said just now, at least he has the honesty to admit that he is untrustworthy. Do you really think I would have accepted him if he made promises that he cannot keep?" He looked at Shingo to see his reaction before continuing, "Of course, it helps knowing that Neuwindst's base in Shanghai was destroyed by the German government yesterday"

"You mean…"

"Maybe he had foreseen it coming. So, either he joins us or the Meiji government. Surely, since you know him quite a bit, so you should understand why he made the decision"

Shingo thought about it. He could remember the foreigner saying something regarding the best place to test a weapon is on the battlefield, not at the training 'playground' where the tests and the results have to be tailored out to show only the positive sides. So, even if Neuwindst has approached the Meiji government to peddle his weapons, the government will take some time to make its decision. Hearing about the destruction of the weapon factory he had visited only a few days ago made him realize that for an illegal weapons manufacturer like Neuwindst, time is a luxury he doesn't have. That fact, and the fact that the 'righteous' Meiji government would not make a deal with someone with a background like Neuwindst openly left him with little choice. 

Shingo smiled a bit. Although he still had misgivings about the current arrangement, at least he had seen the reasons behind his master's decision. Meanwhile, Orochi continued reading the book for a while until he noticed that Shingo was still standing at his place. Looking up from his book, he asked, "Just ask what you want to know about my attack on Oniwabanshuu"

"Very well, my lord. It seems that your attack has brought us another enemy"

"It is so, I hope"

"??"

"The same reasoning that applies to Neuwindst becoming our ally also applies to Shinomori becoming our enemy"

"But… but…, we could have made the plan by considering that he will also join their side later…"

"And that would have made him unpredictable, right?"

"Ano……"

"All right. Let us see it from another perspective. Before the attack, there is a possibility that he will stay in Kyoto instead of going to Tokyo, even after receiving the telegram the Meiji government sent to him right?"

Shingo agreed with him.

"And we cannot be sure whether he will go to Tokyo later, or not going to Tokyo at all. But by attacking his group, now we can be very certain that he WILL go to Tokyo, right?"

"Yes"

"So, to make it simple, now that he has become our enemy, it will be easier for us to guess his thinking. Before, the advantage was his. But now, you can say that we're even" 

The standing man didn't fully comprehend what was said, but he still ventured with another question, "So do you mean this is like a game of Shogi?" By trying to compare his master's way of thinking with a traditional strategy board game, he hoped that at least he could understand the situation better.

"It's Just like a game of Shogi", Orochi confirmed. "You try to guess my move and I try to guess yours. And like in the game, once you made certain move, the enemy has no other option but to make the move that we wanted him take"

"I see. And Now I can understand about what Takuya said"

"Hmm?"

"Takuya did mention that you told Shinomori about you wanting to see whether all Ishinshi's and Bakufu's best swordsmen combined can stop us"

Orochi chuckled. "That's just an excuse for me to attack him. It would have been rude to attack someone without a good reason"

"Master, your brilliance amazes me"

"Thank you, but the idea is not mine"

Before Shingo could ask for clarification, Ukyo burst in the room, looking frantic. "Forgive me for being rude, but I have something important to ask"

"About your dogs?" Orochi asked him. "Their kennels were moved to the southern part of our base"

"No. I knew about the kennels shift"

"Then?"

"A… Asu… Asuka? Where is he?"

****************************************

Hajime Saitou smoked leisurely while leaning on a wall in the deserted alley. With Chou in Tokyo to take care of everything there, he only had one more thing to carry out.

"You can stop stalking on the Aoiya. I'm leaving for Tokyo now"

Saitou threw the unfinished cigarette on the ground and stepped on it while walking into the open. He cocked his left eye when he saw that there were two people waiting for him.

"Oh, it seems that the weasel is sending you off"

"No. She follows"

Even Saitou's stoic facade faltered a bit after hearing that answer.

"She has a task to perform"

Saitou looked to Misao. The normally talkative woman was unusually quiet. He took out another cigarette from his pocket. As if on cue, a stagecoach arrived and stopped near them. 

"Get on board"

After they got into the coach and the coach started moving, he lit the cigarette. "Now tell me everything you know"

****************************************

Saitou looked toward the port from the ship's aft side as it began moving toward the sea. Next to him stood the famed leader of the Oniwabanshuu, it's Okashira. From the corner of his eye, he could see the weasel shadowing the man. He mentally scoffed at Aoshi's earlier suggestion of the woman having a task to perform, but the Mibu's Wolf was willing to ignore her as long as she kept her mouth shut.

In the stagecoach, Aoshi had told him of the man called Orochi who headed the Orochi shadow organization. Initially, Saitou listened with half little interest as the quiet man dwelt on the organization's legend, on how it was formed during the Sengoku Judai (The Warring States Era) to offer service to the samurai lords, from escort missions to assassinations. The group became well known for its very high success rate. What made its success rate more incredible was the fact that every time it accepted a mission, it would send out a declaration to the opposing side. Despite the early warning to their enemies, the Orochi ninjas normally were able to accomplish their task successfully.

Then, as the Tokugawa era began and the newly proclaimed Shogun began eradicating the ninja clans to ensure his seat of power would be ensured safe for those willing to serve under him, the Orochi group disappeared. Some said that it was the first group to be crushed by the Tokugawa while others said that all of its members committed seppukku in order to preserve their dignity rather than surrendering to Tokugawa.

"And so you're telling me this Orochi group is a fake?" he asked as a response.

"No. That's not what I meant," Aoshi answered while staring out of the moving stagecoach. 

"What I have just told you are unconfirmed rumors. During the hundreds of years after the group disappeared, stories have surfaced regarding the existence of a shadow group"

"Heh! And you're going to tell me that those stories are also rumors?" Saitou flashed a sarcastic smile. "Let me make a guess; the Oniwabanshuu has a library containing local folk tales and lore" 

"That is correct," Aoshi answered, ignoring Saitou's taunt. "Perhaps it's true that serving the Tokugawa Shogunate weakened us. However the Shogunate provided us with ample resources to collect information that may be of use"

Thinking about what Aoshi said as he looked at the port becoming smaller and smaller in his view, Saitou took out a cigarette and lit it. If what Aoshi told him was true, they would be facing Japan's greatest threat.

___________________________________________________________________________

Author's notes (revised 10 January 2004)

1. Sorry to disappoint all of you regarding the last chapter's cliffhanger. Well, at first, I thought of making a weapon cache, but the weapons would have been outdated by that time. A secret base? What's the use of a secret base if only one or two people using it? So, in the end the library prevails! Yay! It should make sense, as Oniwabanshuu was into information business.

2. Sengoku Judai (or Jidai) is the time before the Tokugawa era whereby it was free for all. You want land? Get you army to conquer it. You don't like the face of another land owner? Get it surgically removed by your ninjas. These should give you a general (pun not intended) picture of how chaotic the era was. It was also the time when the services of so-called _'men of the shadows'_ were used. At first, most of the land owner cried foul when the ninjas appeared. But, as the same time, some of them were making secret deals with the 'dishonorable dogs'. To make the story short, in the end, everyone used their service.

3. The ninjas from Iga province are known throughout the era.

4. Ninja clans had a chain of command something like this: Chunin (Upper man), Jonin (Middle man) and Genin (Lower man). Chunin is the leader of the chain of command, something like the head of CIA. Jonin collects the money and provide strategy planning, like a mission controller. Genin is your run of the mill, text book defined ninjas.

5. The part where the Tokugawa eliminating the ninjas was a bit off the mark. Actually, it was Oda Nobunaga who wanted to wipe out the ninjas, especially the ninjas in the Iga province. He sent his son to attack the province but he was beaten. Undaunted, Nobunaga sent a massive army to smash the Iga ninjas has succeeded. At that time, Tokugawa was in an alliance with him, so I'm not sure whether he's in the extermination process or not. After Nobunaga was killed, Tokugawa had to pass through a mountain in the said province. He signed an agreement with a Chunin for a protection. This is the start of the relationship between the Shogunte and the ninjas. Ironically, it slowly brought upon the death of the ninjas. Hired as gardeners in the Shogun's palace (I'm not joking on this one), they spent their days in peace and quiet, and as a result their skill waned. Some of the ninjas who didn't join the Tokugawa's army became paid assassins, but without the leadership of Chunins, they're just thugs in ninja garbs.

6. It has been quite a while since I make zany food comments, so here goes:

Fic Critic 

----I just hope that the juice I painstakingly pressed out of the tiny grape doesn't turn into vinegar due to my own neglect

Jdog()

----I don't think I'll take the story down from Fanfiction. Ha ha. Sorry, I just couldn't resist making that comment

Anabella5

----While preparing a dish, one should take into consideration of how the food will look and taste like and how it will fit in the whole course. Sometimes a tasteful dish can be ruined by overlooking this factor.

_This chapter was checked by Fujifunmum. _


	9. Chapter 8

**_Suenagaku na Aki_**

**Chapter 8**

Kaoru evaded the swinging bokken aimed at her shoulder from her student. _'Baka! I told you not to make the swinging attack that soon. Now I'm going to deal the pain to you so that the lesson will stick in your mind'_ She smiled mischievously as she grabbed his hands. 

Yahiko could almost see in his mind what would happen to him. A sudden chop to a precise spot on his left hand that was holding the end of the bokken's hilt would cause it to open, destabilizing his grip on the bamboo sword. Then she would certainly shift to his left side, hitting his shoulder slightly before grabbing it. Even knowing what she would do in advance didn't help him, as another attack stunned him, giving her a precious one second to redirect his exerted strength to smash him to the hard dojo floor. The crunching sound that would echo throughout the dojo as his body made contact with it was ringing in his mind. However, the pain he would feel and the 500 practice swings he would have to do as punishment would never exceed with the beating his ego would receive as she would certainly point out the mistake he had accidentally repeated. _"Hell! I might as well close my eyes and hope it won't be as painful as the last time"_

The chop to his hand did come. And so was the moving air signifying that she had shifted to his left and tapped his shoulder before grasping it. But when the throw didn't come he opened his eyes, spying a distracted Kaoru. _'This is it! Busu can't blame me for taking advantage'_, he thought as he began to grab one of her hand. But a backhand to his face stopped him.

"Shh"

"Nanda…" The hand that had slapped him closed his mouth.

"Mmfffmfff"

"Wait!", Kaoru hushed.

"MMmmmfmFMMFM!"

"No! I could have wiped the dojo floor with you just now"

"Mmmfmfmm?"

"Just keep quiet!"

Yahiko kept his mouth shut, wondering what was wrong. He waited for a few seconds in suspense. _'Is there something wrong?'_ he wondered as his teacher's face looked serious. Then he felt the hand covering his mouth withdrew. Yahiko looked at her. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU DO THAT FOR?" he demanded.

"Oh. Sorry. I em...was thinking about something just now", Kaoru answered while looking at her the hand that had covered his mouth earlier. It was wet with his saliva. Disgusted, she wiped it dry using his gi.

"Hey!" Yahiko protested. Then he remembered what he set out do. He quickly grabbed her hand and shoulder, turned and positioned his body so that he could easily execute the move. _'Today, you're going to fly, "sensei"' _He pulled her hand. But then he noticed that something was wrong. She was not flying as he predicted. Then he realized the hand on the back of his neck. Kaoru has prevented the throw by using her free hand to push him forward as he tried to execute it, nullifying his thrust. Yahiko sighed. That was a very good attempt. He turned reluctantly, expecting a severe reprimand. Instead, he came face to face with a smiling Kaoru. "Good try, kid. Only 200 practice swings today"

"Ah… ah… That…"

"Okay, maybe we can delay the punishment until tomorrow, when you do another stupid mistake, and I can punish you with 1000 swings"

Yahiko blinked. 

Kaoru put her hand on his head and ruffled his hair. Normally, this would get an angry reaction from him, but he was still confused about what she has just said. She smiled again. Yahiko became more confused. Kaoru had long resigned herself to the fact that she considered Yahiko like the younger brother she never had; she never admitted it openly for the sheer embarrassment it will bring to her and him it would bring both of them.

"Let's wrap this up and clean the dojo. Then you can run off to the Akabeko. AFTER you clean up, that is"

"H… Hai, bus…sensei"

They put away their equipment and began to clean the dojo. Kaoru watched her student diligently sweeping the floor as she wiped the dust from the sword rack using a cloth. She had considered punishing him severely for not taking his lessons more seriously. But then, if he had, he would have the ability to sense ki, and maybe he would have felt the weak ki from the compound of the dojo. Kaoru wouldn't have wanted him to worry. As she saw a blur jumping over the wall, she made the decision to go to the Akabeko with him. Kaoru really hoped she was just imaging things.

****************************************

At the Akabeko,

The sight of the newly built restaurant always amazed Kaoru. It was no more than two months since one of Enishi's men leveled the restaurant to the ground using a canon, and Tae had rebuilt it once more. Rebuilt was not the correct word; the new restaurant was bigger and more beautiful than the previous one. It was plain that the reconstruction of the restaurant reflected Tae's way of thinking; if you fail, you try again, and you try to do it better. Kaoru was proud of her friend's determination for her business.

Kaoru had just begun to walk toward the door when a hand on her shoulder sent shivers down her spine. 

"Kaoru-dono?" The voice behind her was concerned. Kaoru turned around. 

"Mou, Kenshin! You shouldn't sneak up on people like that"

"Demo... Kaoru-dono didn't seem to see sessha waving from far away. You seemed to be preoccupied with something"

A hand to each one of their backs pushed them into the shop. "Feh! It's obvious that Jo-chan was thinking about you. End of story"

"Ano... Sano...", Kaoru began, blushing but deciding to shut her mouth when she saw Yahiko sitting at a table.

"Hello, Kaoru. Having lunch here?" Tae, the ever energetic proprietress of the Akabeko scooted to them. "Come, I have a new dish for you to try" She pulled the younger woman's hand toward the table where Yahiko sat. Kenshin and Sano followed suit. Suddenly Sano put his mouth near Kenshin's ear.

"Psstt.. Kenshin" Sano whispered.

"What is it?" Kenshin asked.

"Did she burn the kitchen down again?"

"Ie. Sessha was buying tofu for lunch and then spotted her here" 

"Oh...Okay. So, let's eat" Sano dragged Kenshin who was trying to balance the tofu he bought to join the others. Meanwhile, after seating Kaoru, Tae went for to look for a piece of paper and her pencil.

****************************************

Tae looked at the group seated around the table. When she turned toward the Sano. she gasped.

"Che. Megumi said she wanted to puke every time she sees [saw] my face, and now you?"

"Ano... Sano... The police here will find you" Tae looked around her. "Don't worry, you can escape using the back exit. Come", a she pulled him away by the hand

"Ara?! Hey! What are you doing? You reported my debt to the police? I thought you said my tab here had been erased" Sano whined.

Kaoru put her hand on Tae. "Don't worry about him. He's been cleared, and the police aren't looking for him anymore"

Tae stopped pulling on Sano's hand. 

"He is?"

"Sano has been pardoned, that he has" Kenshin added.

"OK, but you have to tell me about it later. Now, before Sano interrupted me, where was I?"

Sano stared at her in protest, but kept his mouth shut.

"So, what would you like to drink?" People usually went to Akabeko to eat beef pot as it was the best beef pot restaurant in Tokyo. Anyway, Kaoru and the others were her friends, so it she knew that they would not hesitate to ask her themselves if they want to order something else. 

"O-cha" Kenshin said

"Right. Green tea" Tae wrote his order on a piece of paper

"Coffee" Kaoru quipped.

"Same here", Sano said while crossing his arms.

"Sake"

"Yahiko-CHAN?" Tae gave a hard look at the boy who often worked at her restaurant.

"I was kidding" _'Why are they always treating me like a kid?'_ "O-cha, Gonkuro variety" _'Well, if I have to drink tea, I might as well have the most expensive one'_

"No one asks for my order?" a female voice behind Tae asked. "I feel so uninvited"  

"Megumi!" Tae exclaimed.

"The Fox is here on a visit" Sano informed her.

Megumi laughed. "Tae knows about me visiting Ken-san, rooster-head. Anyway, Tae, I would like a nice warm cup of chrysanthemum tea"

"Okay. Let me reconfirm. Your "usual", plus two cups of coffee, one cup of o-cha, one cup of gonkuro-cha and a cup of chrysanthemum tea. And yes, the new dishes I want all of you to try" Tae walked to the kitchen.

Megumi watched her leave before turning toward her friends.

They looked at her. 

She continued looking at them.

They continued looking at her. 

"Well?" She questioned.

"Well, what?" Yahiko asked back.

"Yahiko, has anyone told you that you seem like a fine young man?"

_'Finally'_ Yahiko shook his head happily.

"Good. I don't think you behave like one. Now scoot over and make room for me" Yahiko looked at her and wanted to suggest to her to move to Sanosuke's side. But, at that moment, Sano decided that he needed more space to stretch his weary feet.  Defeated, he nudged Kenshin who moved closer to Kaoru. Megumi sat down. "Thank you, Yahiko-kun"

****************************************

Kenshin could sense Kaoru's ki rising while a slight shade of red colored her face as he sat nearer to her. However, he didn't have time to think about it; he was busy trying to suppress his own ki which was flaring. He felt tingling sensations all over his body, as if it was expecting something. He took a deep breath.

The rurouni was not the only one who noticed the reaction in Kaoru. Megumi had also noticed. Unlike Kenshin, however, Megumi didn't need any technique such as ki sensing. Instead, she utilized another effective method. It was called 'keen observation', a skill she got through her vast experience treating people as a doctor. She smiled inwardly as she noticed Kenshin and Kaoru breathing at a same pace unconsciously. 

Meanwhile, Kaoru was experiencing something that she could not put her finger on. Anticipation, longing and other emotions were raging inside her heart. She risked a look at the redhead beside her under the pretext of adjusting of her hair. She had a brief view of his scar and her eyes softened as her head turned to look straight ahead. The young woman tried to remember something important about the dojo, but she found it difficult to do so as she found herself being intoxicated by a faint, yet familiar scent. She knew what the scent was. There was no way she could not know that scent. 

Then a feeling of melancholy swept over her and she lowered her head to hide it. There was a very strong reason why she couldn't forgot that scent even if she wanted to, and that reason took place at a certain night, when she had felt utterly devastated and helpless, watching as the man she really cared about slowly walked away. Walking away to help put a stop to a mad man's intent on taking over Japan. _'But that was in the past' 'But it could happen in the future, ne?'_

"Daijouka, Kaoru-dono?"

Kaoru brought her head up, smiling. "Em" She yawned. "I'm a bit tired"

"Why you should be tired, Busu? You're not pregnant or something"

"Oro" _'That's what we're supposed to do to her, Rurouni. Think of the nights we can spend together with her in the process!' _A voice inside Kenshin suddenly quipped, surprising him. _'Damn you!'_ "Yahiko, you shouldn't be..." He was interrupted by a loud thud.

A not so calm Megumi took of her hand off the boy's head. "Next time, BOY, before you want to speak, THINK!"

"Yosh! Fox, I never thought you have such a temper"

Megumi ignored Sanosuke as she realized that it was wrong for her to take out her anger on Yahiko, despite the extremely 'thoughtful' comment he made. It was just that she became very frustrated when she found out that even now Kaoru was hiding her feelings behind a mask. But her anger began to subside when she heard Kaoru began to giggle. The giggle was genuine.

"Yahiko, are you going to remain in that state? Oh, hello Tsubame"

Instantly Yahiko perked up. "Uh.. Hi Tsubame... Ara? Where..." Yahiko looked around before settling his eyes at her, angry. "You tricked me!"

"Pretending to be sleeping is not exactly an honest thing to do, Yahiko"

After a few minutes Tae came with their orders. Pandemonium broke loose as usual as Sano and Yahiko competed for the food on the table, much to the distress of Megumi and Kaoru. Unknown to them, their antics were watched quietly by two pairs of eyes nearby.

After a while, one of them turned toward his companion, a woman with a smug look. But the woman ignored his look while continuing to look at the Kenshingumi. After a while, she looked at the man in front of him. "Asuka, although you're older than the short kid over there, if you think that just because they didn't react as if they know we were there, then it's obvious that your level of thinking is at the same level with him"

"But you can see that they're having a good time now... wait... cross that one. They're having a messy time now"

"See? That's why..."

A drunken voice interrupted her. "Hello there, pretty lady" Two drunkards were looking at her with lust in their eyes. The one who has just spoken grinned mischievously.

"What is it?" she asked with respect. Looking past the two of them, she noticed that the Kenshingumi has stopped eating and were paying attention to them.

Then the other one spoke. Why don't we leave your angelic and innocent brother and go somewhere else?"

"Great. Two lowlife in the middle of the afternoon. This really make my day", Asuka said sarcastically. 

"ASUKA!" her 'sister' admonished. Her eyes warned him. Turning toward the two men, she could see that Sanosuke was rising slowly from his seat. She had to take care of the two idiots in front of her quickly. Smiling seductively, she leaned herself toward one of them. "Will you pay for our meal?" 

"Sure!" A roll of money was slammed on the table. "Here kid, this should be more enough to cover the tab. Your sister will be following us"

"Ne, Asuka. Don't wait up" the woman said.

Asuka looked at the money. "O.... Okay" He took the money.

He looked up to see her 'sister' tugging the drunkard away. "Let's go! Hayaku! Hayaku!" 

The drunkard laughed and turned at his buddy. "See, Houjo? She's even urging us to go. Who are we to refuse?"

"Yeah" his buddy agreed.

A half an hour later, at the outskirt of Tokyo, the woman emerged from a bush, checking for any sign of their blood on her kimono. 

___________________________________________________________________________

Author's notes (9 January 2004)

1. First and foremost, as my first update after new year, I would like to express my appreciation to this people

ØFujifunmum (my beta reader)

ØRanma1517730291

ØThe Fic Critic

ØKeiko()

ØJDog

ØAnabella5

All of you are like sunshine to me. You keep me going when the skies are grey

2. As you can see, beginning this chapter I'm going to put date on this story. This is for my reference. Maybe one day, when I'm a parent (or grandparent) and Fanfiction.net is still around, I can show to my children and say, "Look! This is my first fanfiction before I become stinking rich writing novel (a wishful thinking)"

3. There are people who know about green tea than I am, but I would like to share my limited knowledge on green tea. There are many types of green tea such as 

Macha-iri          - consumed during tea ceremony and used to make ice cream

Sencha             - your run of the mill green tea

Genma             - green tea with roasted rice

Gonkuro           - BMW of green tea. 50g costs at least 20$ at my hometown


	10. Chapter 9

**_Suenagaku na Aki_**

**Chapter 9**

Kaoru breathed rapidly, while clutching the futon tightly in her hands. She didn't notice the sweat around her face. She was scared. The dream... no, the nightmare she has just experienced was so intense that she mentally checked herself to see whether she was dreaming or not. The haunting nightmare followed by the remembered terror of watching Kenshin fight Enishi was once more intruding on her sleep. _Dreams! Dreams! She mentally wailed to herself! Why!_

It was a dream about her father who was about to leave her to help quell the uprising caused by a former Ishin Shishi warrior by the name of Takamori. She pleaded with him, tugging his gi as he was about to leave the front door. She groveled, she wept, as a young girl would. But he smiled softly and just asked, "Do you know that I really love you, Chibi?" Despite Kaoru being a teenager, she would always be his little girl.

"If so, please stay" she said between sobs.

Koshijiro shook his head softly. "Remember to practice your kata everyday"

Kaoru sobbed. A finger to her cheek lifted her face to see him.

"I'm scared, father"

"Don't worry. I will come back safely and we can go eat some Miso together"

_'LIAR'_ her mind screamed. That statement was evident in her eyes.  He smiled ruefully, as he knew that he might not make it back safely.

"Perhaps I can promise you this, Chibi. One day you will feel the same way about someone. Then you will understand why I have to leave"

"This is not right! You will go out and kill people. You will break the principles of Kamiya Kasshinryu you have vowed to uphold!"

Koshijiro closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He then put his mouth near Kaoru's ear, whispering, "If what I am going to do can protect you, the principles will still be upheld. Forgive me. Sayonara, Chibi" Kashijiro punched her in the stomach, knocking her out. And that was how Kaoru's dream ended, with her vision of her father blurring.

Ever since the day her father left her never to return, she had the same recurring dream. She stopped having it when Kenshin and the others came to live with her. Kaoru shivered. What was promised to her about her finding someone she cared about came true. Loneliness was banished temporarily from her mind. But with that banishment, helplessness took its place. 

_'Father, you must be laughing at me now for doubting your words. But I don't care about your laughing at me. I finally understood what you meant. Kenshin. I care about him very much. So much so that it hurts me knowing that I could do nothing. Tomoe. She is a goddess that a stupid, ugly, self-centered, uncouth and unwomanly tomboyish raccoon could never replace' _Kaoru laughed bitterly, wiping away her tears. _'And she saved him, both his life and his soul' _

She had cried when Kenshin told all of them the story of his wife, she had cried. Partly because she was saddened with by Kenshin's tragic story and partly because of Tomoe's suffering. But at the same time she cried because she felt that no matter what, there was only one woman in Kenshin's heart. And that woman, by Kaoru's own admission, must be Tomoe.  Since that day, she has stopped trying to vie for his love, settling instead for the chance just to be with him. 

_'I couldn't lift a finger! Hoping to stop the fight between him and Enishi at that island. Ha ha ha. I never thought I could deceive myself that much. And that pathetic attempt of throwing myself to stop the bullets. Even then I was busy closing my eyes, hoping the gun wouldn't fire.' _She laughed again, despite the pain in her heart. 

_'Takani Megumi. Everything that wasn't me rolled into one stunning woman. The only thing that I have that she doesn't is my ability to create poison using kitchen utensils'_

_'Sagara Sanosuke. The only person he trusts to fight by his side'_

_'Myojin Yahiko. A rising star whose teacher stood idiotically while he beat one of Enishi's goons that would could easily kick her ass if she fought him' _

_'Where does that leave me? What is the function of Kamiya Kaoru? The dojo owner-dono? The Kaoru-don't know? The Little Missy? The Miss "come get me. I am vulnerable"? '_ Kaoru felt too tired to laughed any more. She realized that problem was hers, and hers alone. Deciding that she needed some fresh air she opened the door leading to the outside and sat porch. The answer to her inner conflict wouldn't come, she knew. But perhaps the fresh night air would give her strength to procrastinate, to avoid facing the question then, deferring it to the day after that.

The night was quite and dark, as the moon was hidden behind the night clouds. Kaoru sat on the porch. She could recall of times when she was small when her mother and she would spend the time together, listening to sounds of crickets. _'Autumn is approaching, and the crickets wouldn't be around'_

_'The crickets! I don't hear any sound!' _Kaoru's instinct told her that something was wrong. She got up and walked to the front of her dojo. Her eyes settled on a tree there. Discounting moonless night, she was almost sure she saw someone standing by it for a few seconds. But the problem was she could not feel any ki. Perhaps her ki sensing skill was not even close to Kenshin's, but she was sure that she was supposed to feel something.

Suddenly, her battle instinct screamed for her to look in another direction. Her attention was directed at another tree in front of the house. She saw nothing except the tree itself. Kaoru took a few steps to the tree cautiously, arming herself with a piece of fire wood as a makeshift shinai.

"Dare yo (Who are you)?" she asked in a small voice.

Only silence answered her.

"Dare yo?"

Still nobody answered her.

"Whoever you are, I know that you're here somewhere," Kaoru stopped, taking a deep breath while scanning the surrounding area.  "It's quite normal for the crickets to stop making any sound when someone is around. As you can see, even though your kenki is fully hidden, I know you that you're here by hearing the crickets' sound". It was a gambit. Kaoru knew that the insects would not make any sounds if they sense a possible predator among them, but she wasn't sure whether there was anyone there at all.

A shadow slowly appeared from the back of the tree. Quietly, the shadow jumped onto one of the branches and sat there. "Congratulations. You're the second person who actually managed to find me" The voice belonged to a woman.

Kaoru knew that she was supposed to call the others, but somehow she felt that it was better for her not to do so. "Who are you?"

"Ichijo", the woman answered.

"You're the one who was stalking on the dojo this afternoon right? I felt your ki" Kaoru asked. "And... the very eager lady at the restaurant"

Ichijo's eyes flashed with anger. "No, to both of them", she answered calmly, despite her facial expression. "Well, I was at the dojo this afternoon, but it wasn't my ki that you felt. It belongs to one of us" she said. "He was spying on you despite my warning not to underestimate you and that bratty student of yours. I was there to stop him, but since you already detected his presence at that time and my presence now, my mission of gathering intelligence on all of you secretly is a failure" She smiled an evil smile as she continued, "Well, as for the scene at the restaurant, I guess I was eager. Eager to get rid of them"

"Masaka..."

"Believe it, Kamiya-san"

Thoughts on reasons why the ninja on in the tree wanted to gather information on everyone from the dojo raced through Kaoru's mind. The ninja smirked.

"Having a sleepless night, ne Kamiya-san?"

"What I do is none of your business"

"Maa maa, Kamiya-san. The least you can do is to wipe the tears off your face before pretending to be angry. Anyway, you want to know more than just my family name, ne Kamiya-san? Simply said, I'm your enemy, Kamiya-san"

Kaoru blinked her eyes at the Ichijo's proclamation of being her enemy. "Why are you here?"

"What do you think?"

Kaoru brought up the wood the defend herself.

"Not to worry. If I had even thought of touching one strand of your hair, the Battousai would have detected my presence earlier on. In fact, that's why you haven't called others, right? You wanted to KNOW more about the person who caused to the crickets to stop making sounds", Ichijo said. 

The woman on the ground stared at the one on the tree branch. 

The woman on the branch stood. "Since you have discovered me, I have to go now. It was nice to meet you, Kamiya-san" 

"Wait! What do you want from us?"

"Nothing, at least not yet"

"Then why do you spy on us?"

"You will find out soon enough, so it wouldn't matter if you tell the others about me or not" Ichijo almost jumped away when she remembered something. "I'm sorry to say this, Kamiya-san, but during my short period of spying on all of you, I have come to hate you the most" 

Kaoru glared at Ichijo, questioning thoughts evident in her eyes

Ichijo noted the question in the other woman's eyes and flashed an almost apologetic smile. "It's not your fault, however. You seem to be a normal person, weak and naïve"

"……"

"But I really don't feel comfortable around you. There's something about you that I don't like. Women's institution, if you know what I mean" Ichijo winked at her.

Kaoru could only blink her eyes as a muted response.

Ichijo jumped off away, allowing her to be swallowed by the darkness of the night. Kaoru just watched, without even making a sound. She thought hard about what she was supposed to do.

"Kaoru-dono?"

Kaoru's heart jumped. She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice Kenshin at the front door. "Kenshin?"

"Sorry. Kaoru-dono, is there anything wrong?" Kenshin knew that something was wrong, but he could not put a finger on it. It was as if someone was there at the dojo compound. Despite the lack of any hostile ki present, Kaoru's current position was proof enough that something took place.

A concerned look from him stabbed at Kaoru's heart, as she knew that he was aware that she was hiding something from him; yet that look told her that he was willing to believe anything that she would say to him. She hung her head as night wind blew her hair. 

"There was someone here" 

"What?" Kenshin looked around in alarm. "Who was it?"

"One of our enemies"

****************************************

Two days had passed since Kaoru saw the woman ninja and it has been two almost sleepless night for Kenshin. Try as he might, using his contacts in the government, he could not find out whether the enemies were seeking revenge on him or if they had another agenda. 

"Don't worry about it Kenshin," Yahiko said as he swept the floor near Kenshin. Even as he say it, a bokken strung across his back, almost never taken off since he was told about the woman ninja. "We can beat them just like we did we the others"

Kenshin looked at Yahiko and smiled at the young warrior. Perhaps the youngster was correct, but in order to defeat the enemy, Kenshin had to find out about him. And he has almost no info on them, except one of them was a woman named Ichijo. "Where's Kaoru-dono, Yahiko?" 

"She's torturing lunch in the kitchen while Megumi tries to ensure that she will not poison us"

"Che. I thought Kenshin was cooking today," Sanosuke's voice rang across the room. "I suppose I can't be choosy" He walked toward the two of them. "Any luck in finding them?" 

"No," Kenshin answered.

"Well, according to my neighbors, they saw a strange man walking around the neighborhood three days ago"

"Where were you at that the time?" Yahiko asked

"Katsu's friend's place"

"You sleep there?"

"No, dummy. I walked home afterward"

"Uhuh…"

"What is that suppose to mean?"

"What Yahiko wanted to say is that the neighbors could mistake you for a stranger" Kenshin added his thought to the conversation.

"They should", Yahiko said, "as you're only around when you want to sleep. You spend the day practically gambling and mooching off Busu"

"KID, my neighbors may not see me around very much, but there no mistaking my height" Sano put his hand above Yahiko head. "The MAN is about this high. Hmm... Higher than you, so it couldn't be you also either"

Yahiko grumbled and tried to find a suitable retort.

"Lunch is ready," Megumi called out, interrupting the argument between the two of them. 

****************************************

Kaoru walked along the river as the evening sun settled itself. This place held special meaning for her. It was the place where she blurted out that she wanted to be with Kenshin forever the day before the battle between Kenshin and Enishi. To which Kenshin replied about the Kamiya dojo being his home after all the years he has been wandering.

But doubt managed to plant itself inside her mind. Wave after wave of enemies sought Kenshin, either for revenge or some wicked design. Kaoru wasn't afraid of her life; she was very concerned about the effect it have on Kenshin. Kenshin had been quiet ever since she told him about the encounter with Ichijo. And it took her every wit to go out for the walk without him knowing. She knew it was dangerous, but she felt that she needed the walk.

She cast her eyes to the ground. Dried leaves were scattered around her. _'The autumn is coming'_ Kaoru remembered Kenshin saying about the seasons coming and going. As do people in one's life. Her heart felt a stab of sadness and regret as she pondered on what he has said. She realized that she had probably made a mistake by telling him that she wanted to be with him. In a way, she was asking him to be hers, an impossible thing to happen.

She didn't want to be his weakness for his enemies to use, but at the same time she wanted to be with him. One of her hands balled itself and she put it on her heart, as if doing so would relieve the pain. But it was fruitless. A tear rolled down her cheek. She felt lonely.

_'The autumn is coming, just like you said, Kenshin. But I'm afraid that it may stay autumn forever'_

___________________________________________________________________________

Author's notes (17 January 2004)

1. Fujifunmum raised a very valid and good point regarding Kaoru considering Yahiko to be better than she is. I also had a bit of misgiving about putting that part regarding Kaoru's appraisal of Yahiko. To help me decide, I put myself in the same place. Would I feel good about myself if someone has to save me EVERYTIME (Almost. Teaming with a partner against an opponent doesn't improve upon my ego much) I fight where as my student can fight all the time? The answer is No. I would feel like a piece of crap (then again, that's me.  Maybe Kaoru would have thought differently). But, hopefully this piece of Kaoru's revelation will fit in with my overall planning. Like one of my favorite characters' saying, "Disappointment lead me to greater strength"

2. By now, it should be clear that the female ninja in the prolog, the female ninja talking to Ukyo, the woman at the restaurant and Ichijo is the same person.

3. When Ichijo said that Kaoru was the second person to found her out (despite Kaoru's bluff), she didn't mention who the first one was, right? Orochi was the first one to detect her. Megumi? Well, Megumi THOUGHT she saw something (and Ichijo did mention this to Ukyo) when she was in the kitchen with Kenshin in a previous chapter, but she didn't pursue that further.

4. I don't want to mention points mention in 2 and 3 in Chapter 9 as it would have seemed redundant. I don't want to write a soap drama, but important points will be repeated in later chapters, but only if it is necessary to do so.

_This chapter was checked by Fujifunmum_


	11. Chapter 10

**_Suenagaku na Aki_**

**Chapter 10**

Two men watch from the ground as they look at a winged man crashing into the ocean. One of them is blond and tall while the other one has black hair and a bit shorter than him. Behind them is a group of people manning weapons of all sorts.

"Wow, look at him crash. It must hurt a lot"

"Neuwindst, we're supposed to just scare Henya, not shoot him down. Orochi-sama wanted him to be alive so that he can tell them about us"

"Yes, yes. I know. The 'taking over Japan with style' thing. Not to worry, as you can see, he's fine. Only his wings are damaged guns," Karl said as he pointed at the man walking tiredly to the shore. He then turned to his men behind him and gave a thumbs up. "As you can see, my 'teppo ashigaru' are marksmen" Shingo thought about the difference between the muskets being used by the real teppo ashigaru of the past and the rifles that Neuwindst's men used.

Neuwindst continued, "He was one of Shishio's men, right? An unorthodox way of flying, using dynamite. Crude, but effective. As interesting as ninjas storming an enemy castle using giant kites" What the man didn't mention was that compared to the ex-Juppongatana's method of attacking, the giant kite method was only used as a psychological attack. The ninjas on the kites were vulnerable to arrows, so it could only be used under very favorable conditions.

"Maybe", Shingo answered disinterestedly

"Come on, why the so glum? I let him live, didn't I?"

"Yes"

The blond man looked at his companion for clues on why he was being cold to him. "Hey. If we must work together, at least we can pretend that we know each other"

"Then, let me know what your plans are"

"Hey, you have to be clearer than that. I don't quite get what you're saying" Then, Neuwindst's face changed slowly when he understood what was being said and he became angry. "All right! I guess I should have told you that I had wanted to kill your precious leader while he's asleep and usurp his power. Then I will laugh maniacally while plotting to take over the whole world the night after that. SATISFIED?" 

Neuwindst turn back and noticed his men's eyes were wide. "It's only a private mussing, you know, daydreaming kind of thing? That's why I never got around to telling all of you; not that I don't trust all of you or something.  I haven't even thought of making up a plan yet. Sigh, can't a man have his own private evil thoughts nowadays?"

Neuwindst turned back to see Shingo eyeing him. "And?" Shingo asked back.

"And WHAT?"

Shingo stared at him.

"What do you mean by WHAT? Do you want me to do it?" Neuwindst shouted.  "And people think that I am strange. Look here, Shingo. People have called me a mad man, a loony, a quack, a screw ball and anything else that crosses their mind. I am crazy, in a genius kind of way, of course. But I'm not stupid. And I don't take a risk unless I'm certain to succeed. And trying to take control of his group is as big as a risk can be" He paused and shook head his head, as if realizing something. "And your master probably knew this"

Neuwindst kneeled to open a wooden crate to reveal a long metal tube with smaller tubes protruding from it. Next to the tube is a tripod. He mounted the thing on the tripod and screwed it in place. "Besides, with fanatical followers like you at his side at all times, how am I going to succeed?" Neuwindst then turned to a thin man who was manning a canon. "Chang, what was the elevation of your canon when you fired at the ship just now?

"37 degrees. And 8 degrees North-west"

"Wind?"

"3 knots south"

"Hmmm…" The man adjusted his apparatus. 

Shingo watched with interest despite the exchange of bitter words a moment ago. After he has was done, he directed the weapon at a ship in the harbor. The ship had just been commissioned for service with the Japanese navy, Shingo noted. Made from steel alloy, it could withstand most canon balls. Chang's canon only managed to make small dents on its starboard side. With the police moving toward their location, Shingo guessed that the foreigner only had time to fire just two or three shots before they have to leave.

"Move to the side, Shingo, unless you want your body to be covered with bandages like that mummy... um..."

"Shishio"

"Si... Shishou.... Shishio... Damn! That is hard to pronounce. Just get out of the way" Neuwindst said as he shooed Shingo off.

Shingo moved away. Then in an instant he saw something launched from the tube at high speed toward the ship. At the same time, flame rushed out of the thing. When the thing made contact with the ship's side, it exploded. Even through the smoke coming from the sinking ship, Shingo could see the large hole caused by the explosion. 

"Quite a good weapon, if I should do say so myself", Neuwindst said while disassembling his weapon. "Rocket cannon, a secret weapon that was used during the American civil war. It just needed a little tinkering here and there to stabilize its flight pattern and voila! A big firework that can sink even Japan's newest gunboat" Shingo nodded. Neuwindst smirked. "As long as I can continue to design and test weapons, I don't mind working with anyone. Especially if that someone allows me to test in his name" Neuwindst turned his attention toward his men who were preparing to move the other weapons. "Leave them here. We're through using them", he commanded.

"But then the police would be able to use it?" one of his men asked.

"Don't worry about it. Just help me move this thing", he said while pointing to the crate.

His men lifted the crate and left the place to go into the forest. Meanwhile, Shingo noticed that the man was doing something to the other weapons. A few minutes passed before he began to move away. "Come, Shingo. We wouldn't want to be here when they arrive" 

All of them jogged through forest quietly for 10 minutes before Shingo broke the silence. Turning to Neuwindst, he asked, "Have you spiked the canons?"

Neuwindst was taking a long pull from a bottle of whisky. But as if responding to Shingo's question, a loud explosion from a distance echoed through the forest and he felt the ground tremble a bit.

"No" Neuwindst said as he lowered the bottle. 

****************************************

Meanwhile, in Tokyo,

Three shadows approached the Kamiya residence quietly, while scanning its surroundings. Despite seeing the former Hitokiri Battousai leaving the Kamiya residence earlier with another man, they had to be very careful. Being ninjas of the Orochi group meant that they had to uphold their reputation of being able to execute a surprise attack even though the enemy knew they were coming. And that Kamiya had managed to discover the group's leader was something unexpected, as their leader was known for her stealth and speed ability.

Suddenly the front gate opened. They quickly hid themselves. A boy with a bokken on his back walked out of the door while muttering something. Even though the muttering was soft, trained ears have picked up the boy comments' on his strict teacher and how he was going spend the afternoon at a local eatery named the Akabeko.

Even as the boy walked near the hiding place one of them, they remain calm. They had already been told about the boy's inability to detect ki, so they knew that as long as they remained motionless, the boy wouldn't find them out. In any case, the three of them could easily take out the young kendoist should they need to. But they didn't need to do that as a few seconds later the boy was gone from their sight.

Cautiously, one by one, they left their hiding place and entered the compound of the Kamiya residence. Beginning from the dojo, they searched for her, the woman who had disgraced their name. They weren't after her for revenge; she was to be taken alive and unhurt. And contrary to common wisdom, they have been instructed to commence the kidnapping in the middle of the day, as Battousai would certainly have waited them to attack at night. No, a brazen attempt in the afternoon is what Battousai would not expect them to do.

They approached the dojo first, as the Kamiya woman could be there. The dojo was empty. The living room was empty. Then they heard a faint noise from the kitchen. Signaling for the others to continue combing through other places, one of them went to the kitchen. Peering from the pathway, he saw a woman laboring over the stove. 

"Mou, they should have been home with the tofu", he heard the woman complained, obviously referring to Battousai and Sagara. Even though his face was covered, he smiled. Leader Ichijo have probably run a diversion to distract Battousai. A small brawl between gangster groups in the middle of the market would ensure that the tofu and its buyers wouldn't be home in time for lunch. And the lunch wouldn't be completed either. Slowly, the stalker took out a small tube and aimed it at the woman. 

As if sensing that something was wrong, the woman turned toward him. But it was too late, as the dart was already on her neck. A second later the woman fell to the floor.

He motioned for his colleagues to approach him. With rapid hand signals, they told him that there was no one else at in the place. It was safe to talk.

"Kamiya Kaoru has been subdued", the ninja said, "Our leader would be very pleased with the capture"

When Kenshin and Sanosuke finally reached home not long after that, they saw a note tacked to the front door

_"Battousai. By the time you read this, my men will have already captured your woman. Please come to the abandoned Hijo temple immediately. Ichijo"_

___________________________________________________________________________

Author's notes (19 January 2004)

1. Despite the effort to use real weaponry for my fiction, such as the Gardner gun, the Rocket Cannon probably doesn't exist. Well, since Watsuki used it in the Gun Blaze West, it wouldn't hurt for me to put it. Plus, up to 1940, most of the technological advance in weaponry could easily be produced earlier on, say, 1850? When missile started getting sensors is the time when the world weaponry became modernized.

2. Teppo Ashigaru is a Japanese musketeer (not The Three Musketeers, they mostly used swords). The first ones appeared after the Portuguese followed by the Dutch traders started opening trade posts in Japan. Teppo Ashigaru can only fire in short range, but with better accuracy than bow and arrows. So, they can only be used for middle distance skirmishes. (This info is gathered from the game Shogun: Total Wars)

3. There have been reports that ninjas used giant kites to attack castles and fortress. But, it is probably a psychological attack as while on air, they can't move about freely. A keen-eyed bowman could shoot him down easily. However... In a similar vein, a German paratrooper squad managed to conquer a fortified fortress using gliders in 1939. 

_This chapter was checked by Fujifunmum_


	12. Chapter 11

**_Suenagaku na Aki_**

**Chapter 11**

"Oi Kenshin! Wait up!" Sanosuke called out.

Kenshin ignored him and kept walking. In the background smoke could be seen coming from the middle of Tokyo. Something had happened, and the ex-gangster was willing to bet all his money, not that he has any, on it being sabotage. But somehow the smaller man in front of him managed to pretend that nothing happened while continuing to walk toward the temple where they were supposed to meet Kaoru's kidnapper. 

Frankly speaking, Sano didn't know what to make out of this new development in the former hitokiri. It seemed that the kidnappers had a somehow awakened Kenshin's dark side. No, he decided. Perhaps it was earlier than that. Kaoru's faked murder by Enishi has had forever changed the way that Kenshin saw the world. The invincible Battousai finally had a major weakness. 

"Oi Battousai!" 

Kenshin stopped. "What?" he barked.

_'Nani!? No "de gozaru" added to the sentence? No statement about 'sessha is not a hitokiri any more?"'_

"Well?"

Sanosuke didn't know what to say. His brain has suddenly stopped working. 

After waiting for Sano to say something, Kenshin slowly turned toward him.

Sano half-expected to see amber eyes. He was wrong. They were still violet. But the eyes that bore into him almost caused him to whimper. The shin no ippou used by Jin'eh Udo was never as frightening as this. 

"Do not worry about the fire" Kenshin began to walk once more. Sanosuke followed, resolving to keep his mouth shut, focusing instead on a flying pigeon in the sky, envious of its freedom and lack of responsibilities. Little did he realize that the pigeon landed on the Ichijo's left hand after only few minutes.

Ichijo read the message that the bird carried and frowned. ''This can be a problem. Battousai is actually ignoring the diversionary attack on the police station''. She was expecting him to be distracted by the attack, as he was with the earlier tussle at the marketplace. She didn't want to attack the police station, as doing so could be detrimental to her plans, but she had to do it to buy some time to settle another problem at hand. But at by that time, she had begun to regret her action. The Meiji security force would certainly be on full alert. Shredding the letter, she turned toward her men. She would deal with the consequences later. 

"Kato! Delay Battousai and his companion"

''Yokai (understood)''

"Shin. Continue with the attack on the harbor now. Try to destroy as much as you can while without being caught. Target every pier on site" 

"Acknowledged"

As she looked at her two men leaving the temple grounds, she hoped that they would be successful despite the odds against them.

Thirty minutes later, 

Sanosuke yawned. "That was barely a good fight" Five trained assassins fighting against him and Kenshin didn't exactly count as a good workout for him. Five ninjas against him alone, now that would be considered as something. Sanosuke waited for a reply from Kenshin.

"We're nearly there"

_'That's a very friendly response from you'_ "Let's kick some butts, right?"

"Ie. Kaoru's safety must be ensured"

"Right" _'There he goes again, clipping off the –dono suffix this time. Who is this man in front of me?'_

As if sensing Sanosuke's question, Kenshin sighed. "Sorry for being cold, but sessha is worried about her safety"

Sanosuke nodded. "Let's get Jo-chan home" he said as he sprinted toward the temple. Kenshin kept in the pace with him.

As they stepped through the door, a voice greeted them. "Welcome, Himura Battousai, Ie, Himura Kenshin. And welcome to you too Sagara Sanosuke, as you would like to be known. Or should I refer to you by your original family name?"

Sanosuke snorted. Both Kenshin and he looked where the sound came from. Ichijo was standing on a beam supporting the roof. A quick examination of the inside of the temple revealed that she was alone.

"Where is Kaoru", Kenshin hesitated and quickly added, "-dono?"

"Don't worry about her. She will be united with you soon" Ichijo jumped down and landed safely on the floor. Despite her being his enemy, Sano couldn't help to wonder how she managed to do that without breaking her bones. Ichijo slowly walk to them in a seductive way, 

"Oi!" Sano replied. "We want to see her now"

Ichijo flashed him a flirtatious smile. "While waiting for her, why don't the three of us have some fun?"

"Feh. Only idiots will fall for the beauty trap" Sanosuke was quite proud of himself for not repeating the same mistake he had made at the entrance to Shishio's secret base. At that time when Yumi appeared, he warned Kenshin and Saitou not to fall for her beauty. He was rewarded with a sarcasm from Saitou and something that resembled a putdown from Kenshin. _'Heh. This time, I get to say that statement'_

The woman ninja in front of him smirked. "Why? Don't you found me enticing?"

"Che. I'll take our fiery tempered, tomboyish and or unskilled cook Jo-chan over you anytime"

"Nice to hear that you care, Sano" The three of them turned toward the newcomer who was standing at another entrance.

"Kaoru-dono"

"Hai. Super tomboyish chef in person" Sanosuke noted the sarcasm in her voice, knowing well that he would pay for his comment later along with interest. But that could wait for now. He turned to seek that Ichijo was staring at Kaoru with disbelieve disbelief.

"How?" she croaked.

"Ohayou, Ichijo-san"

"Kso" Ichijo kneeled and punched the floor in front of her in anger "I had asked for you to be captured. And my men informed me that the operation was a success"

Kenshin also wanted to know why Kaoru hadn't been captured. He looked at her

"Obviously, they thought the dojo owner to be someone with unparalleled beauty" Kaoru answered with a sad smile. "Guess they were mistaken"

_'But unparalleled beauty is what the dojo owner has' _A foreign voice in Kenshin whispered. The rurouni felt as if his primal instinct was trying to take over. '_And kami-sama knows how much I want to take her, stain her and make her my own. My Kaoru'_ Kenshin put a hand on his head, commanding the voice to stop. He didn't need this... this voice to make its presence felt while in the middle of a major crisis. He must maintain control of himself.

"What do you mean?" Ichijo asked. 

Megumi and Yahiko came into view.

"Oh!" Understanding came to Ichijo that her ninjas had kidnapped the wrong person. And as a result of their idiocy, they probably had been beaten by the real Kamiya and her student while trying to bring the doctor back to the temple. This wasn't what she planned, she told herself. The angered ninja continued to punch the floor a few more times in exasperation.

Then Ichijo felt something. Smiling, she stood. "Very well. It is not as I planned, but all of you are here" She turned toward Kaoru and smirked. "Remember your question that night, Kamiya-san? Now I will tell you what you want to know" 

****************************************

Meanwhile, not far from Tokyo Harbor,

Shin was looking at the harbor using binoculars, assessing the damage. Despite his men being inexperienced with the weapons the foreigner Neuwindst had supplied, they had managed to inflict sizable damage to the place. Including the attacks his leader's right hand men lead, their group have had destroyed or damaged three ports and two army camps.

"Leader Shin"

"Yes?"

"This is the first time we attacked a large port"

Shin pondered on the statement from the man. Now that his man mentioned it, he began to wonder why he was ordered to attack the Tokyo harbor. Surely his commander wanted to destroy something. '_Or to prevent ships for anchoring there', _his mind supplied. Then he felt everything click into place. That was why he was told to destroy the piers. He smacked his head. "Oi! You"

"Yes sir?"

"Do you know the name of the ship Saitou is traveling on?"

"Kai Maru"

"Good. Ensure that the ship will never dock at the port"

"But it already did" A voice replied, causing Shin to became agitated.

"WHEN?" he growled.

"An hour before you arrived here" Upon hearing that, Shin's head snapped in panic. Quickly, he and his mean unsheathed their swords and turned toward the intruder.

Saitou calmly let out puff of smoke. "You were so busy attacking the harbor that you didn't notice me nearby" He took a long pull from his cigarette. "I was wondering about the reason why you attacked" Saitou smirked. He knew that he would never have gotten the ninjas facing him to say anything if he tried to force them to reveal their secrets. "I found find it amusing that Orochi finds me to be enough of a threat to warrant a welcoming fireworks display for my arrival," he taunted.

Shin and his men didn't say anything and attacked. 

Saitou lazily threw the half burning cigarette away.

****************************************

Yuri pointed at Kenshin. "Himura, I have come to extend an invitation for you and the Rooster head"

"Hey! Do you mind?!" Sano protested but Kenshin raised his hand to stop him. "What do you mean by this... invitation?"

"My leader will like you to join Saitou and the others"

"To do what?" Sanosuke asked her.

"Patience Sagara-san. Its best for you to ask them yourself"

"OK"

"Then why are you still here?" Yahiko interjected. Behind him, Megumi stood anxiously.

Yuri smiled evilly and snapped her fingers. A few men appeared by her side. "Compared to the hired ninjas you fought just now, these men belong to my organization. You will find them... different and they should prove to be more than of a challenge for you"

"HELL! And you just told us to join Saitou and now you're attacking us?!" Sano shouted.

"Maa maa maa maa, Sagara-san. The invitation is from Orochi-sama, not me. My duty to him has been satisfied as you now have been informed". Ichijo smiled. "But since I'm already here, it will would be a shame for me not to take the opportunity to see for myself what made the Battousai so famous" She then motioned at Kaoru.  "Kamiya-san, o tano shimi wa… Kore kara yo! (Kamiya-san, the fun… starts now!)" 

___________________________________________________________________________

Author's notes (3 February 2004)

1. Half of this chapter is written using my Clie PDA using Palm 4.01. Imagine writing at the speed of 5 words per minute. Now that's fast! Not.

2.The speech "O tano shimi wa kore kara yo" I heard from the anime "Your under arrest". Pretty nifty phrase. Pity I don't know who's who in that anime.

Geminidragon

--------------- If one to enjoy the corn fully, one should it in a vertical manner instead of the usual horizontal method (From the Iron Chefs tv Show)

_This chapter was checked by Fujifunmum_


	13. Chapter 12

**_Suenagaku na Aki_**__

**Chapter 12**

Saitou looked at the bodies in front of him. Opponents like these earned his respect. What the ninjas sorely lacked in strength and skills, they made up in fanatical courage. It was a pity they had to be killed. They knew they couldn't win, he reasoned, but they attacked him nonetheless. Saitou knew that the deaths that he dispensed to them freely that day befitted them, as they probably didn't want to be captured alive.

"Saitou-san?"

Saitou turned around. Standing and saluting him was a police officer. "What do you want, Ryoga?"

"Hyoga"

"Hmmphh. Report why you're here"

"The Tokyo police station received complaints from the public regarding some men dressed in black coming here. I was sent to investigate"

Saitou started walking away from the bodies and toward Hyoga. "As you can see, they have already met their demise"

"Who did this, sir?"

"I did this"

"But sir..." Hyoga stammered.

"What?!" Saitou snapped as he stood two feet away from the junior ranking officer.

"Shouldn't you catch at least one of them alive?"

Saitou laughed. "Why should I when I have you?"

"What d..." Hyoga's question went unfinished as a fist knocked him out.

Saitou lifted the unconscious Hyoga and put him over his shoulder. "No normal police officer knows my real name. And I already had suspicions aboutyou ever since a background check on you turned up nothing."

**********************************************************************

"What do you mean by 'The fun starts now?'" Kaoru asked but she asked it too late as the ninjas around Ichijo had disappeared. Seconds later, they appeared around Kenshin, weapons poised to strike. 

Sanosuke tried to move toward one of the ninjas but a tug on his headband stopped him in his tracks.

"I believe your date is with me"

The street fighter turned around to see the teenager from the restaurant. "Look kid, can't you see that your sister is trying murder my friend here?" Sano said while shooing him away. He then turned toward Kenshin, but a stronger tug on his headband almost caused him to fall to the ground. Furiously he turned and grabbed his antagonist by the collar. "WOULD YOU MIND?!" he screamed. 

"Sorry. For your information, she is not my sister". Asuka slapped away the other man's hand before putting a finger in his ear. "I'm not deaf, you know. And don't call me kid. I am already 15 years old. Anyway, she asked me", Asuka closed the distance between them, "to take care of you"

Sano did a double take. "You want to take care of me? You couldn't take care of Yahiko even if he is down with a fever" Then Sano heard Yahiko's loud battle cry. 

"It seems that Yahiko and his teacher are busy for the time being" Asuka threw a punch but Sano blocked it easily. 

Sano cracked his knuckles. "All right, you asked for it. Just remember not to go home crying since I won't go easy on you" 

"Huh! And people say I have loud mouth", Asuka huffed while jumping away from Sano's counter attack. "By the way, my name is Asuka, not kid, not child or any other name that belittles my age. I am fifteen and am considered an adult"

"Sure thing, brat" 

Kenshin eyed the three ninjas surrounding him cautiously. The first ninja, on his left seemed to be unarmed, unlike one wielding a katana on his right and a staff brandishing opponent at the front. He waited patiently, for the attack to come. Time slowed to a stand still as the former hitokiri and his enemies squared off against each other. Then when Kenshin saw the muscle tension on the ninja with the sword chang, he knew that the fight had begun. 

Kenshin dashed toward him, intending to take him out as soon as possible. As he moved closer and closer toward his target, Kenshin noted that the ninja changed his stance into a defensive one. His instinct, honed to perfection trough countless battles told him that something was wrong. A rustling sound of chains confirmed his suspicion.

"Get over here!" the seemingly unarmed ninja threw a weapon consisting of a modified spear with a chain tied at the handle. 

Kenshin managed to evade the attack by jumping away, at the same time baiting for a counter attack by purposely appearing vulnerable. But no attack came until he landed on the floor. Only then they continued with their offence.

Meanwhile, Kaoru pushed Megumi away from the path of three shurikens aimed at the doctor's head. "Move to the side, Megumi. This fight can't be won with a sharp tongue", Kaoru commanded as she narrowly avoided a spiked knuckle. Next to her, Yahiko swore in frustration as his quarry avoided his bokken easily. 

Even as Kaoru herself was barely keeping up with her own opponent, she felt a feeling of dread. Something wasn't what it seemed. But for the moment, she had a fight on her hands and she needed to concentrate on it. 

Sano had to admit, the youngster was good, almost too good for comfort. Unlike Sano who relied mostly on strength, he was faster, but his attacks lacked destructive power. The five punches that he managed to land on Sano had failed to injure him proved it. Then, to the older combatant's surprise, Asuka stopped fighting. 

"Tired?" Sano asked with a smirk.

Asuka shook his head. "I was right when I thought that you would be holding back"

"So you made a bet with someone and made a bundle?"

Sano detected anger in the younger man's eyes. A moment later Sano was on his back on the floor, clutching his stomach in pain. 

"Get up! I know that the Orochi shiki ni hyaku ni ju go (Orochi style no. 225) wouldn't affect you that much, considering that I only used 50% of my power. Asuka watched as the man in front him got up slowly with contempt. "That should teach you never to underestimate me"

Sanosuke rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Not bad. You punched me at the same spot ten times in less than a second. But you attacked my stomach, the most important part of my body, and you will pay for it" Then Sano's head jerked when he heard something. "Nobody asked about for your opinion, Kitsune! And my head is as important as my stomach", he shouted toward Megumi who only crossed her hands in response. 

He then turned toward Asuka and grinned. Puzzled and distracted his opponent almost didn't see the punch coming and only ducked when it was an inch away from his face. Asuka felt a wave of panic when he realized that the punch he barely avoided had dented the temple pillar behind him. 

Upon seeing Asuka's reaction, Sano smirked. "Can you still fight? I only used the Sanosuke-styled Futae no Kiwami at one-third of its strength"

"Che! I'm just surprised that someone with a small brain like you was able to learn such technique"

"Feh! I'm already up and fighting when you were still crying for your milk, kid"

"Right" Asuka executed a roundhouse kick aimed at Sano's head. "Fighting for milk with your siblings. You must be proud of yourself"

Kenshin had a hard time trying to defend himself from the three attacking ninjas. The problem was that they kept using false attacks; every time they attacked and Kenshin counterattacked, they quickly jumped away. When Kenshin tried to attack one of them, the others would attack him. It was as if they were trying to tire him out by using the tactic. But the former hitokiri knew that they bound to make a mistake sooner or later.

All the while, two spectators watched as the battles raged in the temple. Megumi was watching worriedly, as she knew that it's impossible for the fights to not have any casualties at all. Meanwhile Ichijo had jumped back to the supporting beam, and from her vantage point, had a good view of all the fights. She watched impassively, not making any move at all, waiting.

"Hiya!" Kaoru landed a hit on the ninja she was fighting, knocking him unconscious. She was able to trick him to move near his partner who was fighting Yahiko. When Yahiko used a Ryutsuisen modoki in an attempt to defeat the other ninja, the ninja she was fighting with mistook Yahiko's attack as being directed at him. He evaded, but in the process left him himself in a compromising position. Kaoru took full advantage of the situation. This didn't sit too well with Yahiko who had trouble keeping up with his own fight. "No fair! You took advantage of my attack", he said. 

"If you want to complain about unfairness, do it to the man in front of you. He and his partner tried the same trick many times before I copied it", Kaoru replied as she watch a kodachi graze her student's neck as he narrowly avoided it. "See? He didn't even wait for you to finish your whining" She hoped that Yahiko would learn his lesson which was to pay full attention to the fight. It seemed that he understood as he only grumbled in reply while focusing his eyes on the ninja. 

Kenshin sprinted toward the ninja with the staff while disregarding the other two. One way or another, he must end the fight as soon as possible. Taking out one of them would be a good start. The staff wielding ninja was quite unprepared for such sudden move from the legendary hitokiri Battousai but was quick to swing his weapon in defense. 

Unfortunately his target wasn't there anymore. Kenshin had jumped up when he was quite near to him. As his staff became tangled up in his friend's chain, understanding came to him regarding Battousai's deceptively reckless move. By pretending to attack him, the Battousai induced his partner with the spear and chain to attack him, setting up the situation the two of them were in. By the time they freed their weapons, their friend was already defeated. His broken katana lay beside his unconscious body. 

Kenshin looked at the two of them. "Who's next?"

Before they could move in to avenge their fallen comrade, Ichijo's voice stopped them dead in their tracks. "Can't you see that Battousai is trying to trick you into making another mistake?" She turned toward the ninja who was fighting Yahiko. "Tohma, quit toying with the child. Come and help your two fellow clan members take out Battousai"

_'He was toying with me?' _Blinded by anger, Yahiko executed another attack, but the ninja kicked him away before heading toward Kenshin. Unhurt but feeling demoralized, Yahiko just sat on floor, dumfounded. "He was toying with me..." A hit on his head brought him out of his stupor. "Itai... Busu, why the hell did you do that?" he asked grumpily while rubbing the sore spot on his head. 

"That's for letting your enemy get away"

"Didn't you hear what she said? He was..." Another hit on his head stopped him. 

"If he was toying with you, he would have inflicted massive injures on you" Megumi interjected.

"Ichijo only said that to distract you so that he could leave you. And she succeeded" Kaoru said absentmindedly while watching Kenshin's fight. Then she shifted her view to the fight between Sanosuke and Asuka. 

"Orochi shiki san ju kyu!"

Sano chuckled as he evaded the attack. "What's up with naming your techniques with names such as 'Orochi style no. 39'?" He wiped off the blood from his broken lips. "Can't you use better sounding names?" 

Asuka's hand traced the bluish black mark on his shoulder. "Are you trying to bore me to death?" He pressed the spot and winced slightly. "For someone who I'm assigned to distract, your not bad, ojiisan"

"What did you say?"

Asuka slapped his face a few times, swearing while Sanosuke wondered whether the teenager in front of him was dealing with a full deck.

"You're okay kid?"

"Maybe Sano's intelligence has rubbed off on him" Megumi said loud enough for the two of them to hear. Unfortunately the veiled sarcasm was lost on Sano who gave a thumbs up sign. Megumi sighed. Meanwhile, Sano's opponent spewed out colorful expletives as response.

Kaoru's eyes widened with the unintentional revelation by Asuka, It had confirmed her suspicion that a trap was being set up. But what? She shifted her gaze toward the leader of the ninjas. _'What is it that she wants?'_ Kaoru tried to piece together every bit of information she had to solve the puzzle. An attempt was made to kidnap her. Kenshin and Sano had been asked to join in a fight against Orochi. Ichijo wanted to see Kenshin fight. Asuka saying that his job is to distract Sanosuke. Kaoru was no closer to finding the answer when she saw Ichijo's hands moving backwards. Then it dawned on her.

"Kansatsu Tobikunai!" Ten kunais left Ichijo's hands and flew toward Kenshin. After waiting patiently for any weakness, she found an opening and grabbed the opportunity. Her leader will would be angry with her for doing this, but for her it didn't matter. She did what she thought was right. As the pointed weapons got nearer and nearer their target, she smiled, as the legendary Battousai was unaware of the threat that he was facing. Then she saw a woman launch herself into the air, sweeping away seven kunais with her bamboo sword and using her body to receive the remaining three.

Kaoru didn't exactly remember how she could have jumped that high and that far; she couldn't even explain how she managed to stop the seven kunais with just a bamboo sword. But as her body began to register the pain inflicted by the remaining kunais piecing her body, she craned her head toward where Kenshin stood, wanting to make sure that he was safe. 

"KAORUUUU!!!"

___________________________________________________________________________

Author's note (14 March 2004)

It's been a while since I updated. Sorry about that. I just had to keep tinkering with chapter 12 over and over. Actually, chapter 11 and 12 were a single chapter until I took the fight part out to create chapter 12. And, the fight scene is supposed to be in Kamiya dojo, which I also changed to an old temple so that the fight can be made more interesting. All in all I changed about 80% of everything inside chapter 11 and 12, from the location to the enemies they were facing. The ninja that uses a spear with a rope attached to it may seem familiar to you. It's because I modeled it after a ninja character named Scorpion from the Mortal Kombat game. I will be putting the characters' bio after the current last chapter. Hopefully, this will not break FFnet's rule as this will be inline with FFNet's requirement that every chapter uploaded is related with the story's chapters. I feel that putting the Bio at the bottom page would be troublesome for some people interested in the characters. 

Geminidragon

------------- Usually when people are quiet when eating your cooking usually there are two reasons. One: they're too busy enjoying it that they forgot to talk. Two: They were eating Kaoru's or Akane's cooking :-p Anyway, I hope this chapter's cliffhanger is way better than the last one. :-p

Shandrial

------------- Well, here's chapter 12. Hope you enjoy it.

_This chapter was checked by Fujifunmum_


	14. Chapter 13

**_Suenagaku na Aki_**

**Chapter 13**

Ichijo watched as Kenshin promptly dispatched her three remaining minions using a technique called 'Kuzuryusen' and dashed to catch Kaoru's body. Meanwhile, Sanosuke and Asuka stopped their fight to see what was happening. 

"Kaoru!! Are you all right?" Kenshin asked with concern while putting her gently on the ground.

Kaoru's face began to turn pale and she began to sweat profusely, but she smiled and nodded. She opened her mouth to say something but the words never came out as she lost consciousness. Megumi rushed to her side and began to check on her injuries. Meanwhile Kenshin stared at Ichijo and she found herself looking into amber eyes. She wasn't surprised, nor was she afraid, as she has already seen such phenomenon before. 

"Kenshin, the injuries caused by the kunais are not serious, but she is showing signs of being poisoned" Megumi announced after examining Kaoru.

Ichijo moved her hand as a signal for Asuka to retreat, but the teenager stood rooted to his place. She gave him a few more signals but he ignored them. Instead, he turned to Sanosuke who was looking at his fallen friend. 

"Hoi! Let's continue the fight!"

Sano didn't respond to him.

"Are you a chicken? Squawk pok pok pok..."

"Just shut up", Sano said quietly.

"SHUT UP?!" Asuka felt his blood slowly boiling.

"Gomen, that hit on your head must have affected your thinking. I repeat, just shut up"

"NANI?! SHUT UP?? I'll shut you up" Asuka sprinted at Sano, fist clenched. "EAT THIS! OROCHI RETSU KIBAAAAAA!!! (Orochi Violent Fang)" Unlike his normal attacks that solely concentrated on speed, Asuka's secret attack had more force as it was executed by its user hurling himself toward the enemy. By doing so, his body weight would ensure that the punch would be devastating enough, even for someone like Sanosuke. 

Unfortunately, the attack had a drawback, made apparent as Sanosuke merely twisted his body when the punch was inches away from him. Since Asuka had to jump toward Sanosuke to execute the attack, he couldn't change the direction in midair. Sano merely snorted and unleashed a counter punch to Asuka's gut, sending him flying backward. 

The teenager would have hit the hard wooden floor, but a hand grabbed the back of his unconscious body. Realizing that a newcomer had arrived, the former Zanza turned his head to meet him. He was met with th] sight of a man wearing a white outfit just like him, except that his shirt didn't have any sleeves.

"Who the heck are you?"

"I'm just a stray rabbit, so don't mind me" 

"Yeah? So what is a stray rabbit doing here?"

The man just ignored him and turned to speak to the unconscious teenager that he was holding. "I told you that your technique isn't perfect, but you wouldn't listen. And you have been told to lay off, but you wouldn't listen to that either"

Sano was a bit put off, but felt that the newcomer wasn't going to challenge him. He turned toward his friends. "Oi, Megumi, if we bring Jo-chan to the old man's clinic, can you treat her?" 

Megumi turned toward Sano. He had made it clear he could bring both Kaoru and Megumi to Tokyo on his back if needed. But she shook her head. "We don't know what kind of poison was used" It was common knowledge that different ninja clans used different poisons. In fact, the same ninja clan might utilize different poison cocktails so make it harder for its enemies to find an antidote.

Kenshin felt anger and rage welling up inside him. He was going to leave Kaoru with Megumi and go after the female ninja to force her to give up the antidote when he noticed that she was motioning toward Yahiko and Megumi using the corner of her eyes. Kenshin could protect either Megumi or Yahiko if she attacked, but there was no way he could save them both at the same time. The only thing he could do was wait, but with each passing moment, the poison's effect on Kaoru is was becoming stronger and stronger. 

The former Hitokiri Battousai thought about signaling to Sano to prepare to save Megumi while he would protect Yahiko, but he stopped when Ichijo smiled and shook her index finger. Then it dawned on him. Everyone there could become her target, including himself. And putting himself at risk was unthinkable as there was no guarantee that she would give the antidote to Kaoru even if he let himself be killed. 

"Kaoru! Kaoru!" a loud and chirpy feminine voice rang across the inside of the temple. Kenshin's eyes narrowed, as he knew to whom the voice belonged to even before the person appeared. Unknown to him, a pair of eyes also narrowed on hearing the voice.

Misao walked into the temple, followed by Aoshi closely behind her. After what happened with Okina, she hoped that she could cheer herself up by visiting her friends in Tokyo before doing the task that Aoshi would assign her. But when she reached Tokyo, she found the Kamiya dojo to be empty. A quick check with a former Onibanshuu member living in Tokyo revealed that Kaoru was last seen running toward the abandoned temple with her student. At that time she didn't suspect anything, as she thought that Kaoru was chasing Yahiko because the boy had probably badmouthed her again.

As her eyes began to adjust themselves to the low light conditions, they widened and she stopped dead in her tracks. Misao took a few seconds to understand the sight before her. Then she ran toward her injured friend. 

"Kaoru! What happened?!," 

"Don't shake her," Megumi admonished her, "it will cause the poison to circulate faster"

"WHO DID WHIS?!"

Megumi pointed her finger in a direction. Misao turned to see the culprit was looking at someone else. 

"Its' been quite a while, Shinomori… taisho"

"……"

Misao couldn't believe what she saw. "Yu… Yu… Yu…

"Ichijo Yuri" Aoshi finished for her.

****************************************

_Thirteen years ago._

_A teenage girl was closing her eyes with her hands while a small girl scurried away from her._

_"Are you ready?" Yuri asked. _

_"Not yet" the young Misao answered. _

_Yuri waited for a few seconds more. "Have you found a hiding place?"_

_"No"_

_"Mou, Misao-chan.__ You're taking too much time"_

_A few seconds later Misao bellowed, "I'm done"_

_"Ready or not, here I come"_

_Yuri walked around the Aoiya while looking around. Nearby, hidden behind the cupboard, Misao watched apprehensively. The young girl began to panic when Yuri stopped near her. Yuri searched around the place, but she kept still. Then she let out a breath of relief when she saw the older woman nodded and began to walk away. Just as Yuri opened the door leading to the outside, another door opened. From her hiding place, Misao couldn't make out who the person was until he spoke._

_"Yuri-san"_

_"Yes, Shinomori-taisho?"_

_"Aoshi-sama!"__ Misao shrieked while coming out from her hiding place._

_Yuri touched her. "I got you"_

_"Ee??__ But…"_

_"Misao-chan," Aoshi said, "Will you go to the other room? Yuri-san and I have something to talk about"_

_"Hai, hai, Aoshi-sama," she answered while skipping out of the room._

_Aoshi looked at the small form leaving the room before turning toward Yuri. "You're spoiling her"_

_"She's only 5 years old. Besides, I don't want her to grow up become someone as aloof as you"_

_"……"_

_"Never the one to joke around eh, Shinomori-taisho?"_

_"I just hope you don't slack on her training"_

_"With her wanting to be good so that she can serve under you when she grows up? I don't think so" Yuri let out a long breath. "So, what it is this time? Another assassination or a sabotage mission, perhaps?"_

_"No. An escort mission"_

_****************************************_

_"Sigh. How come we're assigned this mundane work?" Yuri said while yawning._

_"Shh. Don't let Aoshi-sama hear you," a man with a scary mask answered. Twenty steps behind them, Aoshi was holding a horse by the reins. There was a man sitting astride the horse. The three Oniwabanshuu were assigned to protect this man._

_"Hanya, you're almost just like Aoshi. A stick in the mud. I wish Hyotoko and the others were with us in this mission"_

_"A smaller party traveling…"_

_"Yes. Yes. Don't give me the crappy sermon. I know…" Suddenly a kunai appeared in her palm and a second later, it disappeared toward a tree top. Then a figure dropped to the ground with a thud. Then more than thirty shadows appeared around them._

_"We've been betrayed!" Yuri said through gritted teeth. The mission was classified and well planned that so it was improbable for the Ishin Shishi to find out it, unless it was leaked. It was impossible for the Oniwabanshuu to betray one of their own and even then, only four members knew about the actual mission, so the leak must be from the officers coordinating the escort mission._

_"Okashira, what shall we do?"" Hanya asked._

_Aoshi knitted his eyebrows. Taking care of them would be very easy if they weren't escorting the official. _

_The shadows ran towards the four of them with their weapons. Less than ten seconds later the shadows were on the ground, unmoving. _

_"When I said that I wanted more excitement, this isn't what I meant", Yuri said while wiping blood from the injury on her shoulder._

_"We have taken care of them, that's what matters", Hanya said while putting a hand on her back._

_"No, we haven't", Aoshi said while pointing to more shadows that had appeared. More than a hundred enemies were getting ready to attack them. Yuri's face changed into a more determined one._

_"Shinomori-taisho, get the official"_

_Although a bit mystified at Yuri commanding him since he was the leader of Oniwabanshuu and not her, he did what she asked._

_"What are you thinking?" Hanya asked. _

_"I won't do what you're going to ask me to do," Aoshi said. "We will stand together and fight them". Aoshi punched the official in the gut, knocking him out. Then Aoshi slung him over his shoulder._

_"Aoshi no baka!"__ Yuri shouted, not bothering to use the honorific. "Do you forget our oath?! The official's life must not be put in danger. I would have volunteered to carry him if I had the strength to carry him that far"_

_"Then Hanya will carry him while you follow. I will stay here"_

_"What if there are more enemies up front?! Or even Battousai? I'm fast. But not as strong as you, Shinomori-taisho. If this damn man", Yuri said while pointing at the unconscious official, "is wasn't worth it, they would not send this many people here"_

_"Yuri. I will stay while the both of you go on" Hanya began._

_Yuri closed her eyes while waving it him off. "I mean no disrespect, but you're slower than I am. They'll able to overwhelm you very fast; or even worse some of them can go chase after us while some of them fight you. If there are more enemies lying in ambush up in the front up further ahead, we will be trapped. Defending the man will be even harder then. That's why only I should stay"_

_Aoshi thought for a moment. Then he turned with the body of the official still on his shoulder. "Hanya. Let's go"_

_"But…"_

_"Don't make me repeat myself"_

_Hanya__ ran to Aoshi and took the official from him. Then he began to sprint toward their destination. Aoshi turned toward Yuri who's facing the enemies head on._

_"Shinomori-taisho…"_

_"What is it?"_

_"Please don't be too hard on Misao. She likes you a lot, you know, and it [will] hurt her if you keep being cold and aloof with her"_

_"……"_

_"Our group will rise to its glory even in the darkest hour, Shinomori-taisho. It will, as long as you're there to lead them"_

_"I promise… Yuri-san, please be careful"_

_"Em"_

_Aoshi turned and followed Hanya. Behind him, Yuri shouted a battle cry and began her attack. Blood splattered everywhere._

****************************************

The Yuri Misao had known hadn't changed a lot in appearance. She only looked a bit older. But gone from her face was the smile she always had. This Yuri looked dangerous, with her eyes reminding Misao of Aoshi's at the Oniwabanshuu's hideout after he had nearly killed Okina. She opened her mouth to say something, but Yuri said something first.

"There's one question that haunts me all this time, Shinomori-taisho"

"What is it?"

"How did the mission turn out after the two of you left me?"

"There were enemies waiting for us, including three powerful swordsmen, but they were fewer than the killers you fought. I eliminated them while Hanya got the official to the base safely"

Misao listened to the exchange between the two of them in confusion. Aoshi-sama was had lied to her all this time, telling her that Yuri-san had been assigned to a secret mission. No wonder every one at the Aoiya always evaded the matter every time she asked about Yuri. In fact her Aoshi-sama had left Yuri-san to die.

"I'm glad" 

_'What? Yuri-san is glad?'_

"And I suppose you told Misao that I was sent off somewhere?"

"……"

"Thank you. Then I suppose what I did back then was correct"

"Oi!"

Yuri turned toward Sanosuke. "Hmm?"

"What about what you did just now?"

The ninja looked at the pale Kaoru. Misao recalled what had just happened and also looked at Kaoru. "Yu… Yuri-neechan… You… you did this?"

"Yes"

The word struck Misao's nerve. "W…… Why? Why?" Tears began forming at her eyes. "First Okina… Now Kaoru…"

Yuri just stood quietly. 

"WHY?"

"Because she got in my way"

"IYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!! YOU… YOU'RE NOT YURI-neechan. CHOU KANSATSU TOBIKUNAI!! (Super Piercing Death Flying Kanai)" Twenty kunais were launched toward a person whom Misao considered as a sister to her.

___________________________________________________________________________

Author's note (29 March 2004)

WriterNotViking

------------- A chef will receive joy from cooking. But he will receive tremendous joy if his is appreciated.

kitiara_uth_matar 

------------- Once the lid to the pressure cooker is lifted, only then can you see that the chicken that you put inside is still remains chicken, only it changed a bit. (In case you don't get it, as I myself don't really understand what I typed just now, the answer is YES! But of course, having gone through the chapter you'll know the real reason already)

FunkMasterGT

------------- In order to know what is the best way to grill a beef, it would better to imagine one as beef itself. That way, it would be easier to know how each method and each barbecue sauce would affect the texture. (OK. That statement's a bit crappy. But I tried my best to like some of the villains I created. By doing so, it helps me in putting depth into them. But by doing it, it takes a lot of my writing time.)

Xenogenesis

------------- Oro? Thanks for your compliment but I couldn't understand what you implied. Kenshin had pondered on his past a bit, but not that much. As for Kenshin having amnesia, I'll probably use the idea when I write a new story called "Ever Stay Snow". The story wouldn't be a sequel, as I'll try to make sure I tie up any loose ends before I end this story (unless I got squashed by Godzilla while on my way to work). But I wouldn't start on it until this story is finished.

Shandrial

------------- TQ. I had to let it simmer for a long time until I'm satisfied with the texture.

_This chapter was checked by Fujifunmum_


	15. Chapter 14

**_Suenagaku na Aki_**

**Chapter 14**

Yuri quickly scanned the twenty kunais flying toward her. "Kansatsu tobikunai!!" Ten kunais flew from Yuri's hand to intercept Misao's kunais. Clashing sounds echoed throughout the area. Out of the ten, only five managed to find their mark. Yuri had to jump to the ground to evade the rest. Even as she evaded, one of them whizzed past her, scratching her cheek.

After she had landed, she put a hand on her cheek before holding it in front of her. Her hand was slightly bloodied. Yuri smirked. Then to everyone else surprise she clapped her hands "Not bad! Not bad at all! You're as good as Orochi-sama has said, no, even better! " She then brought out a small bottle from her ninja suit and threw it at Misao. "Consider this as a small reward for your achievement"

Misao caught the bottle and gave the bottle to Megumi who administered it to Kaoru. Then she turned and glared at Yuri.

"This changes nothing, impostor! You're not Yuri-san. The real Yuri-san would never have attacked my friend"

"It's up to you to think who I am, but I assure you, I still remember when you and I used play hide and seek, you always hid either behind a cupboard, or under Shinomori-taisho's futon. As for attacking your friend, you can't blame me totally for what happened. I intended the kunais for Battousai.

"KISAMA…"

Aoshi walked in front of Misao, stopping her. "I will handle her", he said. He turned toward Ichijo and gave an impassive look.

"Yuri-san"

"Yes, Shinomori-taisho?"

"Although you used to be one of us…"

"Hm..."

"What you did… IS UNFORGIVABLE!!" Aoshi dashed toward her with his kodachis unsheated. "Gususen Kenbu!! (Skill Flash Sword Dance)"

Yuri blocked the attack using one of her hands. Instead of the sound of sword cutting through flesh, the others could hear the sound of metals clashing. Yuri had blocked Aoshi's kodachis by using a tonfa. In her other hand, she helda kodachi.

"Were you the one who revealed our secrets to Orochi?" Aoshi said while jumping away to prepare another attack.

"Don't be silly. He has never asked me to do so. It was easier if he did it by searching for it himself" Yuri rushed at Aoshi. "Onmyo Renda! (Graceful barrage)" In a second, she had attacked Aoshi a dozen times using her tonfa and kodachi successively.

Asohi stopped Yuri's barrage of tonfa and kodachi attacks by crossing his kodachis together. "And the escort mission?"

"Did you remember the liaison official that was found murdered a week after the mission? I'm the one who did it"

"Why?" Aoshi forced Yuri to retreat a few steps using his kodachis.

"He was the traitor"

"How did you know?" Aoshi launched another quick attack, but the distance between them allowed Yuri to dodge easily.

Yuri counterattacked using her tonfa. But Aoshi had anticipated it and used his knee to deflect the blow. In response, Yuri put distance between them as she contemplated on another attack. "I saw him receiving his pay from an Ishin Shishi agent two days after that. But let's not dwell in the past shall we? Ishinshi won the Boshin war already and established the current government. I, no, we have tracked the Oniwabanshuu's movement after the war, to see whether the group could be an ally to us in our fight against the Meiji government. But unfortunately, you decided not to fight it"

"What do you hope to accomplish by siding up with a crazed man bent on conquering Japan?" her former commander asked.

"How dare you insult him!!" Yuri shouted back. "If he wasn't around that night, I would've been killed. To him, I owe my gratitude and allegiance. Anyway, while talking about madness, I think you have forgotten about what you have become recently. You distorted Hanya and others' sacrifice to protect your ego"

Aoshi stopped. He knew very well what she was talking about. He had blamed Himura for his friends' deaths because deep inside, he knew that he was scared to accept the fact that they had died. Despite their earlier reminder that they would follow him anywhere, he had felt that he was responsible for leading them to their doom. It was convenient for Aoshi to blame Battousai at that time so that he go on living under the pretext of trying to exact revenge for them.

"Oh come on. Is Shinomori of the famed Oniwanshuu not accustomed to receiving barbed comments? Oh well. Let me make it up to you" Yuri said sarcastically. "Think of it this way. If you had instead of the others, the others would have extracted revenge in your name instead. And it would have been easier for Shishio to take advantage of them than of you. Not to mention the fact that the Oniwabanshuu would have been so upset by the loss of its leader that the group could have been easily manipulated into fighting against the government. Of course this could happen because if you died, it would have been during the fight with him, right?" Yuri said while pointing toward Kenshin. "So, now that you realize how it could have been worse than what happened, shall we continue with our fight?"

Aoshi nodded, feeling foolish as that he needed his enemy to motivate him. He raised his kodachis slowly, trying to think of what attack to use next.

"Wait!" Another voice interrupted Aoshi's concentration. Both he and Yuri looked at Misao.

"How about you?" Misao asked Yuri

"Me?!" Yuri pointed to herself. "What about me?"

"You're part of the Oniwanshuu. You... you belong to us" Misao fidgeted as she contemplated her next sentence. "Even though Aoshi-sama made a mistake", Misao winced as she mentioned the word 'mistake', "he came back to us and we have accepted him. Why didn't you come back?" The last question seemed like a question asked by a child. True enough, Misao had grown into a young woman, but the child-like part of her was still there. It was one of her traits that had drawn Aoshi to her; it also made him withdraw from her as he didn't want to hurt her. But Misao had shown her that it was the act of not opening up to her that saddened her the most. Meanwhile, the girl in question hung her head, waiting for a reply from Yuri.

Yuri hesitated for quite sometime and this fact didn't go unnoticed. "For me, my final mission for the Owanibanshuu was carried out successfully that fateful night. Ichijo Yuri of the Owanibanshuu group was dead". Then her eyes became wide as she seemed to realize something. Misao hoped that Yuri had come to her senses. Even Aoshi stopped and stood, waiting for a response. To her surprise, she watched as Yuri began to laugh.

"W…why?"

"Oh, how ironic that it has been successful"

"What do you mean?" Aoshi demanded, gritting his teeth. He had blamed himself when Yuri went missing after that mission.

"Had the mission failed, and the man we escorted was killed, the war would probably had a different outcome," Yuri gave Kenshin an amused smile. "According to Orochi-sama, even Battousai's superior fighting technique wouldn't have ensured the Ishinshi's success as much as the man we guarded with our lives have ensured the fall of Tokugawa Shogunate. In fact, when Orochi-sama saved me, he was there to see whether the man was alive or not"

"Do you mean we were doing the Ishinshi a favour?" Aoshi asked.

"Yes, but they didn't know about it at that time. Of course," Yuri said while yawning, "it doesn't matter now, right?"

"Don't you see? He tricked you! Orochi purposely saved you so that he can could use you… against us", Misao pleaded. The exchange in the last few minutes had convinced her that this was the Yuri-san that's always kind to her when she's small, spending countless hours playing with her and bringing her gifts every time she returned from her missions. Misao wished very hard that Yuri-san would realize what she had done.

"IE! I myself had questioned his intentions for saving me. But not ever, not even once has he asked me to do something against my will. In fact, he never even asked me to serve under him" Yuri shifted her focus to Aoshi. "Come, Shinomori-taisho. Let's fight like we did years ago. I want to know how I will fare against you now. Kokuen No Mai! (Dance of the Black Swallow)"

"You have to pay for what you did here and I will carry out the punishment. Haou Shoten Kenbu! (Roaring Rising Sword Dance)"

Multiple images of Aoshi and Yuri appeared simultaneously, with multiple footsteps being heard. The images didn't appear to surround each other, like Aoshi's Kaiten Kenbu move. Instead, they appeared at random locations. This went on for a few seconds until Aoshi appeared from his stance to attack Yuri's side. But to his consternation, he realized that he only attacked her image.

"I got you, Shinomori-taisho" Yuri gloated as she appeared behind Aoshi and slashed him. "What the…"

Aoshi disappeared. She only managed to hit his image. Immediately, she realized that she had fallen into a trap. Yuri tried jumping away, but Aoshi appeared behind her and slashed her. Even though she evaded the attack, one of the kodachis managed to graze her neck, and blood trickled from the wound. The outcome of the fight between them had been decided. Knowing this, she jumped away to the supporting pillar, away from Aoshi's reach. She closed her eyes, just like she did thirteen years ago. But this time a tear rolled down, damping her cheek.

"To be honest… I really hoped that I wouldn't run into the two of you. I was expecting Saitou"

"But you were WRONG!" Misao shouted.

"True. I should have taken into account the probability of you two coming here, since Okina was defeated by Orochi-sama" Yuri wiped of the tear off her face.

"YOU KNEW?" Misao asked. Standing not far away from her, Aoshi kept quiet despite his curiosity.

"Yes"

"WHY?!"

"And why not? After all, I'm the one who suggested it. "

Misao was unprepared for the reply from Yuri. But before she could say anything, Yuri continued, "I also should've thought about you arriving here early so that I wouldn't have to meet you, but…" Yuri opened her eyes and smiled at Misao. It was the smile she normally gave to Misao when Misao was small, although sadness tainted the smile. "I'm glad I didn't," she finished softly. "I'm happy to see you have grown up to be a fine and beautiful woman, even as we stand on different sides"

Misao felt moved. "Yuri-san…"

But in an instant the Yuri she knew was replaced with a cold one, the one that had hurt her friends. She looked at the man who was carrying Asuka, giving him a look. Then she turned toward the Kenshingumi and her former friends while raising her right hand in line with her face. Then she folded three fingers, leaving only her index and fore fingers straight. "I will show you a new move I have learned". The ninja then clenched her left hand and placed it underneath her right hand. "I will now create an earthquake in ten seconds"

"An earthquake? Man, you're off your rocker" Sano said before he felt the floor beneath him began to tremble a bit. He cocked his head. Surely the ninja was bluffing, he told himself. Then to his surprise and horror everything inside the temple began to shake. He looked outside to discover that only temple was shaking while everything else was fine. Sano pinched himself to ensure that he wasn't dreaming. It hurt. Instinctively, he picked up the nearest person to him which was Megumi and held her protectively. By then everything inside the temple began to collapse.

A few minutes later, Sano brushed himself while shaking his head to get rid of the dust. He looked at his arms to see a fainted Megumi. Then he looked around to see all of his friends were all right, except the small woman who was in Kenshin's embrace. She was still unconscious. "I never tought that the Oniwabanshuu ninjas knew how to cause an earthquake"

"We don't" Aoshi murmured audibly while checking Misao for any sign of injuries. There were damp spots on her face, indicating that she was crying silently.

.....................................................................................................................................

Author's note (30 May 2004)  
1) It have been a while since I updated. Sorry, but things happen.  
2) If any fornatting is a bit off, it's probably due to the formatting conversion from Palm PDA to Windows. Now I have acquired a newer PDA and a foldable keyboard, I at least can type the story on the go.


	16. Chapter 15

**_Suenagaku na Aki_******

**Chapter 15**

"And that's what happened in Kyoto," Misao finished the story to the rest of Kenshingumi, minus Kaoru and Megumi. Near her, Aoshi drank tea slowly, silently.

The door to the room slid open and Megumi came into the room while wiping off her hands with a small hand towel.

"How is she, Megumi-dono?"

"She's fine. The antidote is working and her fever is subsiding. Yahiko"

"Yes. I know" Yahiko got up and left the room.

"Whatever the poison's made from, it's very potent. Had this Yuri decided not to give the antidote, it would have been very hard to cure her" Megumi turned to Misao and gave a thoughtful look.

Misao raised her eyebrows, inviting Megumi to speak her mind.

"Ano... During that time.... When you received the antidote, how did you know that the antidote was the real one? Please don't misunderstand me, but she could have given another poison vial to trick you"

Misao stared the floor in front of her. "Even at that time, I already knew that the person I was facing was Yuri-nee...." Misao let the end of the sentence die. "So, I knew that she gave the right one, despite what happened" Misao gave a forced smile. "She has never lied to me before. Of that I'm sure"

"So," Sano began, "who is this Yuri Ichijo? And what has to do with you guys?"

Aoshi put down his cup. "She was one of my best ninjas"

"Then?! I heard you guys talking about a mission and stuff at the temple. So, she was ticked off because you left her? Is that why she joined the bad guys?"

Misao looked to Aoshi with the same question. Aoshi noticed her look and shook his head slightly.

"Actually, it was she who decided to stay behind during the escort mission to buy us some time so that we could bring an important person safely back to the Shogunate palace. As for the reason she joined the Orochi group, I have no idea"

"Did the mission involve Hitotsubashi Keiki?" Kenshin suggested.

"That's correct. Were you involved, Himura?"

"No. Sessha knew about it because it was one of the Ishinshi's greatest plans that failed. We lost more than two hundred men that night"

"We retraced our steps once he was back safely, but we only found more enemies in the area. She was nowhere to be seen. Naturally we assume she was dead. Until now"

"Okay, we have settled that part," Sanosuke said. "So now we have a former Oniwabanshuu coming here and recreating what happened in Kyoto, right?"

"I don't think so, rooster. You're dim in this department"

"Oi!"

"Sessha agrees with Megumi"

"Kso!"

"She… she said that Kaoru was in her way," Misao began while looking down. "And she said that the kunais were intended for Kenshin"

"Wait. If she was extending an invitation from her leader in the first place, why did she attack Kenshin?" Sanosuke asked.

"She wanted to kill him despite the orders from her leader. Yuri has always been one to take her own initiative," Aoshi said before taking his cup to drink again.

Megumi thought on what Aoshi had said, "It seemed that she perceived you as the greatest threat to her leader, Ken-san"

"Heh! Everyone in Japan wants to get a piece of Battousai," a voice near the door caused everyone else to turn towards it. A tall lanky man wearing a police uniform was standing at the door.

"Che. The rabid wolf"

"I'll let that snide comment slide this time, ahou, seeing that your mental capability is still on par with that of a turtle" Saitou walked inside. Without waiting for an invitation to join them, Saitou took a place next to Aoshi. He turned to Megumi. "Get me some tea"

Megumi was about to speak her mind when Saitou continued, "Please". Reluctantly she complied, pouring a cup for him. After downing half of it, Saitou turn to address all of them. "Now, tell me what happened"

Saitou's forehead wrinkled slightly as he listened to what took place at that temple. After they have had finished, he brought out a cigarette but was stopped by Megumi from lighting it. Scowling, he put it away. "How many of the ninjas have you captured?"

"We caught the ninjas outside the temple", Aoshi answered.

"Explain 'outside the temple'"

"There were a few more inside, but they were killed when the temple collapsed"

"I see"

"I tell you she caused it", Sanosuke said.

"Caused what?"

"Caused the earthquake that caused the temple to collapse"

Saitou didn't pay much attention to what Sanosuke was saying as he looked at his former enemy as he got up to leave the room. Then he turned back at the others. "I have captured one of Orochi's right hand men"

"Really?" The question came from Misao.

"Currently, we have only managed to get his real identity. His real name is Kanzaki Ukyo. A very intensive background check only revealed that he had a brother by the name of Asuka"

"Hey! That's the name of the runt that fought me"

"Very good. Your very existence seems a bit more tolerable now" Saitou held out his two fingers, "by this much"

Sano gritted his teeth but said nothing.

Kenshin pushed open the sliding door and entered the room. The smell of medicine lingered around the room, permeating an aura not unlike those he encountered at Dr. Genzai's clinic. In the dimly lit room, he could see Yahiko sitting near the futon, watching over his teacher with concern. He walked over to him and kneeled beside the young man.

"How is she?"

"Fine. Anyway, no poison's going to stay in Busu's body that long, and she probably developed some resistance while eating her own cooking" Yahiko answered while giving a weak smile. Despite open declaration of hostilities between Yahiko and Kaoru everyday, Kenshin knew that deep down, he cared for her very much.

Kenshin looked at the woman who shielded him from Ichijo's attack using her own body. Color was slowly coming back to her face. Meanwhile, the wounds on her body had been cleaned and bandaged by Megumi. Clearly, Kaoru's condition was becoming more stable. Kenshin quietly thanked the gods. Yahiko shifted his sitting position and tried to stifle a yawn.

"Yahiko, why don't you go to sleep? Sessha will watch over Kaoru-dono"

Yahiko wanted to say something, but he yawned again. The fight that day had drained his energy. His face contorted as he tried to prevent himself from yawning again but it was in vain. Agreeing, he left the room.

Kenshin continued his bedside vigil. Even as he thought about what was being discussed by all of them earlier, he found his thoughts kept returning to woman in front of him. He held out his hand to touch her face. His fingertips touched her cheek tentatively, as if making sure that the skin was really tangible, and not some sort of illusion.

_'Why did you do it Kaoru?'_

_'Why?'_

_'You nearly died because of it'_

But his unasked questions were only answered by the howling of the midnight wind. Kenshin withdrew his hand and fisted it.

_'Why did you do such a foolish thing?'_

Slowly, anger rose inside him.

'WHY!?'

Even as the fury began to fill inside him, his hand trembled, as if as if acting on its own. It opened and reached out, this time toward her silky black hair. The hair would have been in his hand had Kenshin hadn't summoned all of his willpower to stop it. Kenshin clenched his teeth as he tried to suppress his desire to ignore everything else and take her into his arms to hold her close to him. To touch her. To tell her, conscious or not, that she belonged to him. _'NO! I MUST RESIST THIS!!!!!'_ Kenshin screamed silently to free himself of the dark thoughts. He turned toward the sleeping woman with anger and guilt.

_'WHY ARE YOU SO NAÏVE? SO STUPID?'_

Kenshin was very angry with himself. He had never lost control of himself since he learned the succession technique, but the events that transpired that day, and those feelings that didn't surface during Jinchuu had finally overwhelmed his self restraint.

_'Do you want me to become crazy? I can still remember what happened when I saw the broken doll at the dojo. I thought it was you. I THOUGH THAT DOLL WAS YOU' _

_'I keep seeing it, even until now. Why, Kaoru, Why? '_

_'I want to touch you, Kaoru'_

_'What the?!__ NO!!! Kami-sama, I can't believe this'_

_'I want to be the first one to claim your kiss… To soil you, to make you mine"_

_'IYAAA!!__ What is this?!'_

The other voice laughed, almost seductively_. 'I want you to be MINE!! TO HELL WITH THE OTHERS!'_

_'OOARRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!__ Why? Is this the Battousai's doing?' Kenshin put his hands to his head, willing, no, commanding the voice to stop._

Then as suddenly as the voice started, it stopped. Kenshin drew a deep breath, ignoring the cold sweat on his palms and brow. Had all of this been caused by the madness brought on by his Battousai persona, Kenshin would have known on how to deal with it. But as it was, the alien desires and thoughts were unrecognizable. It was as if another hidden persona was emerging, one potentially even more dangerous than the Battousai persona. The Battousai's persona, although violent, was more inclined to be dutiful and to think of the others. But this new one was more selfish, preferring to think more about himself.

Kenshin looked at the possible cause of what was happening to him with a bit of contempt as she slept innocently. Then suddenly the urge to touch her resurfaced, more subtle this time. Just a simple and concerned touch, it told Kenshin. A few strands of her hair and nothing more. But Kenshin couldn't be fooled. Despite the intense hunger to touch her, he managed to put some distance between the two of them.

_'Kaoru-dono.__ I don't know what happened just now. But of this I'm sure, although you have saved sessha's life, what you did and what you probably did just now, is unforgivable'_

With that conviction, he stood up and left. He couldn't risk being in the room alone with her anymore. Someone else would have to take over for him.

* * *

  
  
Author's note (27 July 2004)

1)Sorry for not updating. Well, I'm not annoying a lot of people by not updating frequently , am I?   
2)As you can see from the story, Kenshin 'had' a third personality. Well, the more the merrier.  
3)See character bios page on how the earthquake technique was executed (the real one). The updating one this part will be done once I get translated the physic text into English (English is my second language)

Nekotsuki --- Aa... the reason why the tears are there is because the onion wasn't cooked yet. Anyway, I really appreciate your feedback. Let's see how the story turns up. I make it a bit dark, like Jinchuu, but will try to add some light moment when possible.

This chapter was being beta read by fujifunmum


	17. Chapter 16

**Suegaku Na Aki**

**Chapter 16 **

Kaoru opened her eyes and panicked. It was almost afternoon. Hastily, she changed herself and went running out of her room. She almost run smack into Yahiko who was trying to balance a tray full of food.

"Hey! Watch it! Yahiko shouted with his eyes glued to the tray he was holding, wanting to make sure soup didn't spill out of one the bowls on the tray. Megumi will have my hide if I spill the food" Moving one of the hands to the front of the tray, he muttered softly, "Stupid fox, she could have arranged it properly so that it's easier to carry"

"But why are you serving food? You're late for practice"

"Well, dummy, in case you have forgotten, Kaoru..."

"Kaoru... What's up with me?"

Yahiko's mind began to whirl fast when he realized the person he was talking to. His hands almost threw the tray so that he can hug her when he realized two things. Firstly, if he hugged her, the tray would fall to the floor. Then the job of cleaning it up would certainly be delegated to him. Two, hugging her would mean the end of his 'manly' reputation. He instead settled for a nod. "You should rest in your room, as you need to recover from your injury"

Only at Yahiko's reminder did the previous day's event come to Kaoru's mind. She began to feel pain from her injuries. Then, as if remembering something, she whisked around. "Where's Kenshin?! Is he okay?"

"Sessha is all right, that he is" Kaoru's panicked gaze softened when it settled on the red head standing in the corridor. But she felt that something was not right.

"Kaoru-dono should rest, that she should"

"Hai" Kaoru could have sworn that Kenshin seemed a bit distant toward her.

Yahiko ushered her to her room, using the tray like a prod. Alone, Kenshin looked at his slightly trembling hands. He was very happy that she was finally awake, that he had wanted to... _'Kiss her?' _The voice that has become the epitome of his lust and obsession toward the young female kendoist asked. Kenshin mentally groaned. The voice was more annoying than the battousai persona he had created. And more insistent, having its own mind, as if it was another spirit that entered his body. "It was improper to think about Kaoru like that. She would have smacked me if she knew"

"So, Jou-chan is up and running?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"Ohayo de gozaru, Sano"

"A not so good morning to you, judging from your disheveled state" Sano thought about asking Kenshin about what he was saying but decided to let it pass.

Kenshin acknowledged slightly, his mind was still in turmoil. After a pregnant pause, he began, "Sano...."

"What?"

Kenshin decided to just keep quiet.

Sano looked at his tired-looking friend. "You're worried about her, aren't you? You looked like you didn't sleep at all last night. Probably worrying about her"

"Hai"

"You care for her deeply"

Kenshin's sigh was interpreted as acknowledgement.

"Well, why do you still hesitate to tell her? Didn't yesterday's event mean anything for you?" Sano's voice rose slightly toward the end of the sentence.

"Sessha's not good enough for her. Sessha..."

"I know... I know", Sano interrupted. "You don't deserve her"

Kenshin agreed to what Sano said. In his heart, Kaoru was too kind, like a beautiful flower that needed to be protected from corrupt person like him.

''Of course you don't deserve her; you deserve someone better. After all she is just an ugly, sweaty, immature, inelegant kendo practicing tomboy whose cooking can poison the whole Tokyo. So that's why she is not good enough for you isn't it?" Sano saw the sakabatou almost leave its sheath.

Kenshin shook his head, trying to calm himself. "You should not speak ill of Kaoru-dono anymore"

Sano winced at Kenshin's warning as he looked into violet eyes laced with amber shine. But then the thick part of his skull that influenced his guts stepped in and Sano braced himself for a glaring match with the shorter man in front of him. Then as a brainwave hit him, he smirked. "Okay, I was wrong. The cute tenshi deserved someone like you to protect her"

"Eto... She doesn't"

"look beautiful?"

"Ie. Kaoru-dono..."

"Is beautiful"

"Sou de gozaru"

Sano grinned. "And you want her?"

"Ie"

"So you don't want her because she can't cook?"

"Ie. Sessha likes her not because..."

"So you admit that you like her?"

"Oro... Demo, sessha doesn't deserve her"

"Sigh. You mean you deserve Megumi?"

"Ororo"

"Not Ororo. Kaoru. Ka – O – Ru"

"Sessha lead a tainted life"

Sano wasn't oblivious to Kenshin's private history. Throwing his hands up, he shouted, "Fine. So you're not an angel"

"Sessha is an ex-hitokiri" The sentence's meaning was deep and profound.

Knowing that telling Kenshin that Tomoe would have wanted him to be happy didn't seem to be a good idea to Sano as the mentioning of his friend's deceased wife would probably have a contradictory effect. "Very well. Now close your eyes"

Kenshin did what he was told.

"Now. Imagine your ugliest and most annoying enemy that you have fought"

"I fought you"

"Yeah. But I said 'ugliest and most annoying', not 'most handsome and most dashing'. So that would not be me. Try Gohei and Hiruma instead"

"Oroooo...."

"Make sure you can see them clearly"

Sano waited for a few seconds. "Now. Imagine them flirting with Kaoru instead of you. And imagine you were at another place in Japan, making that speech about 'sessha this' and 'sessha that"

Kenshin's eyes snapped open, not liking what they saw.

'_Kenshin, you're as silly as they come when it comes to Jou-chan'_ "Good. I take this as proof that despite the crap coming out of you mouth, you want her to be yours badly. You should make your move, DE GOZARU"

"Eto... Sessha"

"Shut up before you contradict yourself"

Kenshin clamped his mouth shut. Sano made a peace sign as he had finally won his first verbal match. He considered whether he should make Megumi his next target. Or Saitou. But first things first. He put a hand on Kenshin's shoulder. "Kenshin, you know what I really meant"

"Hai, sou de gozaru. But sessha is still angry towards you because of your unkind words toward Kaoru-dono"

Sanosuke looked at the direction of Kaoru's room. "She's one of a kind, isn't she? I mean, if I hadn't noticed the looks she was giving you when I got to know you people, I would have gone after her"

'Gone after her' Sano's last words echoed in his mind. Kenshin stood transfixed to his place, making Sano very worried.

"Oi! Daijobou?'''

Kenshin was actually reliving the event that took place the previous night, except that in this one, Kenshin gave in to his desire and Kaoru was awake and reciprocated his advance. It was as if his being obstinate for the last ten years has finally taken its toll on him. Kenshin, in that rare moment, had lost his self control.

Sano wondered whether he should wipe the drool off his friend's mouth.

At a river bank not very far away, a young man was sitting leaned against a tree. Although there was a fishing pole in his hand, h didn't really pay attention to it when there was a slight tug to it. Instead, he was looking off in the distance, lost in reverie. Then a hand took the pole from his hand and pulled it, causing the fish that was hooked on it to come out of the water to rest on the river bank. The newcomer didn't pay attention to the fish struggling for oxygen; he sat near the young man.

"Lost in distant memory?"

A pair of eyes looked at him from the corner. "Why are you here, Orochi? And don't give me rubbish for an answer"

Orochi ignored his comment and recast the fishing line into the water after baiting it. "So, how's life, Yukishiro?"

"Fine," Enishi mumbled.

Orochi looked at Enishi's hair. He could see that some of his hair had begun to turn black. The Yukishiro that he once knew seemed to have changed. He shook his head. It was evident that Enishi would not and could not help him. "Actually, I wanted to ask your help. But now I think it is better for me just to spend an afternoon with you, as a friend"

"Orochi considering me as his friend?"

"Whatever. Do you have a spare rod?"

In response, Enishi took another one and baited it. He cast it and kept quiet.

An hour or more passed in solitude before Enishi turn to his companion and asked, "So, does this, help have anything to do with your men who were captured?"

"Actually, it was about something else. But forget about it as I remembered that I have few questions I want to ask you"

Enishi gave a tug to his fishing rod when he felt a slight pull. Then the line went slack as the fish managed to free itself. Enishi shrugged. "Ask me, but I can't promise that I will answer"

Orochi smiled and asked him about his final battle with Kenshin. Enishi told him; albeit in an abridged form.

"What about his ougi? Can you tell me how it is done? What is the driving force behind it?"

Enishi gave a stare that told Orochi that he would not answer that question.

"Very well. You don't want me to gain an unfair advantage over your brother in law. I can understand that. If I were in your place, I would have done the same"

"He's not my brother in law" The statement was said without as much venom that Orochi had expected.

"But your sister married him" Despite the minor setback, Orochi tried to instigate Enishi's anger. "He accidentally killed her, accidentally, but when the event took place, they were husband and wife"

Enishi gritted his teeth. "Look, I don't why are you so bent on trying to influence me, but I wouldn't be tricked by you" Lost in anger, he bent his fishing rod until it snapped. "I... promised.... no, swore... to.... Onee-san that... I would... leave the bloody murderer alone" He threw the now useless rod into the river and sighed sadly. "Onee-san would probably have asked me to do the same if she had lived" Now calmed, Enishi looked at Orochi, "It's probably better if you take your leave"

Realizing that he could not influence Enishi, Orochi stood to leave. "It was nice having a friendly chat with you. It has been a while"

The younger man looked at him. "Well, maybe friendly is true, but I don't think the word nice fits. I wish you would stop trying to nose into my life.

Orochi smiled. "Well, I will keep it in mind" He began to walk away. After a few steps, he stopped. "By the way..."

"What?"

"Send my regards to your father"

Enishi was looking at his back with wide eyes. His father was still alive? Enishi felt blown away by Orochi's statement. His father was ALIVE?

"Consider this one of the benefits of me snooping around in your life. Take care of the old man. Ja, ne. Yukishiro-san"

"Kaoru!"

Kaoru was almost tackled to the ground.

"Watch it, you don't want her wound to reopen" Megumi who was nearby reminded..

"Oppss. Heh heh, sorry"

Kaoru had a good look the person who was hugging her. "Misao?"

"Hai... hai... Makimachi Misao dess", Misao said playfully.

"What are you doing here?"

Misao stiffened for a fraction for a second. Quickly, she put on a smile. "Why, you're not happy to see me?"

"No, not that..."

"Okay then, Aoshi and I have to impose on your hospitality for a few days.

"Aoshi's here?"

"Mr. Personality in person", Megumi answered.

"I see" Kaoru looked thoughtful. "I don't remember receiving any letter from you"

"Of course you don't. This is a surprise visit"

"Oh" Kaoru cocked her head. "Any particular reason for coming to Tokyo?"

"No"

Kaoru fumed silently as she felt that everyone conspired to keep her uninformed of what had happened the day before. She knew that Misao's sudden visit must have something to do with what had happened. Kaoru had asked everyone, and she had gotten a basically similar answer; a rare occurrence, since the Kenshin-gumi rarely agreed on anything. She was only told that the woman named Ichijo left after wounding her, and Misao and Aoshi only arrived later in the evening

"Well, I'm glad you decided to drop by"

"Well, so am I," Misao answered with a smile.

Kaoru decided it was probably pointless to ask any more questionsdespite her desire to know about what had happened. The fact that she managed to hear the conversation between Ichijo and Misao had inflamed her curiousity. "Okay, Misao-chan. Why don't we go to the kitchen to see what we can whip up for the others?"

Megumi shook her head, wondering what will happen to the kitchen with the weasel and raccoon inside it.

* * *

21 October 2004  
  
**Author's note**  
1. Ahh, it's been a while. It's hard enough that I have a critic that question everything I write. Of course, arguing with myself about the story made it more difficult to write it  
2. Anyway, thank you for everyone's patient enough to wait and welcome to the new readers. Reviews are very appreciated, but don't let that get to you. I take pride in knowing that somewhere, there is someone who's reading this labour of love and soul (and time) ; that is enough for me. I just hoped that if I made a blunder or something, you wouldn't hesistate to tell me.  
3. Everything written so far, such as Kaoru's dream, Kenshin's 'third' personality has their reason for being included, at least that's what I thought when I wrote about them. Heck, even the training session served a purpose for me.  
  
_This chapter was beta read by fujifunmum_


	18. Chapter 17

**Suegaku Na Aki**

**Chapter 17**

Orochi raised his eyebrows as he watched Yuri and Asuka bow in front of him. He has just returned from his meeting with Enishi when Shingo told him what took place in Tokyo, including the capture of Ukyo by Saitou. From the place where he was sitting, Orochi examined their condition. They didn't even bother to change their clothes and treat their wounds when they reached the camp, but instead, they went to directly there to bow, waiting for whatever judgment he felt fit to dispense.

He could see that Asuka was shaking, probably unused to keeping still for a long time, unlike Yuri who was trained to do so. Smiling, he used the sheath of his swords to touch Asuka's body.

Asuka stiffled a scream as his body felt a sharp tingling sensation. Despite the earlier news Shingo has given him, Orochi could still laugh at the boy's antics.

"Well, Asuka, what do you have to say for yourself?" Despite the smile, there was no mistaking the seriousness of the question.

From his bowing position, the boy tried to raise his body to answer but another sharp tingling sensation cause him to fall, leaving a mess of tangled limbs. "Itai..."

Orochi smiled and waited patiently as the boy tried to sit correctly.

Asuka bowed once more and the raised his body, with his arms still on the floor. "It is my mistake; Yuri sempai has nothing to do with this. I was the one who left this camp without permission. She was only looking after me"

From her position, Yuri turned to look at him. "Asuka..."

Asuka bowed again. "Please let her off. Punish me instead"

Orochi stared at him for a long time in silence. Finally he began, "Very well, you will receive the proper punishment. I will not hold her accountable for anything pertaining to your actions"

"Thank you"

"But that does not mean she did not do anything wrong"

"But..."

"Your punishment, Asuka, is to be confined to this camp until I say so. Two guards will be assigned to watch over you at all times"

The boy in front of Orochi frowned. "But that... that... punishment is too light compared to my sins. Please, punish me more"

"There is no need"

"Please"

"You will carry out this punishment with the knowledge that due to your brash and reckless behavior, your brother made a mistake and has been captured by the government and now is being held prisoner in a heavily guarded place. It is almost impossible for any rescue attempts to be made without incurring heavy losses"

Asuka's eyes became very wide.

Flicking his wrist, Orochi threw a letter in front of the shocked boy. "And as a request from your brother that should he be captured, you are to be stopped from making any attempt to rescue him. The letter in front of you contains that request"

"Brother..." Asuka took the letter with regret etched on his face.

"Now go and calm yourself. Your brother would not want you to be like this"

With heavy footsteps, Asuka dragged himself out of the place. Orochi shifted his gaze to the remaining person. "Come here"

Yuri still bowed.

"Come here to me. That is an order"

The female ninja approached him, her head down.

"Sit down" Orochi pointed to the place in front of him. She obediently followed the command. He took out a box from a hidden place. Yuri closed her eyes, waiting for a sharp pain, signaling her torture for failing for the first time. A tear drop rolled on her cheek, but not because she was scared of her punishment; rather she felt guilty.

Only when a damp cloth was dabbed on her injured neck did she open her eyes to see her leader was treating her wound. She opened her mouth to say something but a finger on her lips silenced her. When the finger was removed, she tried once more but was stopped by a kiss placed directly on her open mouth. The kiss was full of tenderness. When he finally broke their kiss, she was stunned and could not anything but look at him. "Orochi-sama..." she finally whispered after she regained herself. The soft look in his eyes was something she hadn't seen before, but had secretly hoped for.

"I am not a good leader. I am a man obsessed with revenge for what happened to my family" He paused, taking a long breath. "Maybe I'm leading all of us to our doom" He cupped her face and claimed her lips once more. This time this kiss was longer and with Yuri responding to it. Breaking the kiss, he continued to hold her face. "But, in spite of my madness, I do know that I care for you deeply. I trust you can take care of yourself, yet I still feel the urgency to tell you to be careful"

"Orochi-sama..." Yuri's hands touched his hands. "I'm willing to do anything and follow you anywhere, even to hell" Her eyes fluttered downward, trying to contain the tears, but failed as few drops rolled down her cheeks. But she was smiling. "But your words, they made me feel... very happy"

He hugged her, "I do not know what will happen tomorrow, but I am contended to be with you tonight, not as the Orochi, but as a simple man" He held her at arms length. "For tonight, please don't call me by my title"

"Yes"

-

Saitou gave the man sitting in front of him an annoyed look. He put his hands on the table and leaned forward, stopping at inch in front of the other man's face. "Now tell me what I want to know"

"My name is simply Ukyo and under the Geneva Convention 1949, I am not required to tell you more than my name and my serial number" Ukyo smirked.

"What are you blabbing about? There is no such thing as the Geneva Convention, and the year now is not 1949" Saitou rapped on Ukyo's forehead. Did I accidentally damage your head that day?"

"...Sorry. I don't know what the hell I was mumbling about"

Saitou stood up and walked around him. "Now tell me, what are you doing in the police force?"

"I'm doing a multi-level marketing" was the sarcastic answer. What do you think I'm doing? Of course I'm spying for Orochi"

Saitou slammed the table in front of Ukyo, startling him. Then he glared the man in the eyes. "I don't like wise guys"

"Like I care, Saitou. We know that both of us fought in the restoration war, although you may have a few more years under your belt. If you're thinking of scaring me like you did with that broom guy, you're making a mistake"

'_Interesting. Ukyo knew about Chou being a prisoner once and perhaps he also knew about Shishio and the Juppongatana._ "So you know that I wouldn't be tied to the normal procedures when interrogating criminals. I can be less 'compassionate' than what the government required me to be"

"In another words you can beat the information out of me. Obviously you forgot something"

Despite the defiance, Saitou smiled to himself. "Of course, I forgot that Orochi have has your brother held hostage"

"If you see it that way"

"Very well. I don't think that your boss would tell you his plan anyway"

"Not that I would understand, except for the conquering the whole of Japan part. He can be quite complicated sometimes" Ukyo looked at the table. "Wow, you managed to leave your handprint on the desk"

-

It was still dusk when Orochi strolled around the compound of his headquarters. Shingo walked to him. "Master, what should we do about Ukyo?"

"Nothing"

"But he could compromise this location"

"Put yourself in his place. Would you tell betray us? No. He won't either. But dispatch three of our Kensais to kill the other prisoners. I trust that you already have the location of the police stations where they are being held"

"Yes. The police thought that if they were put in different locations it would be hard for us to get rid them at once" Shingo grinned. "Too bad for them we have many informers ready to betray the secret locations for a tiny sum of money"

"If possible, try to minimize the killing of the police force guarding them. I want the government to guess what we hope to accomplish by doing something that defies the normal strategic wisdom" He looked at Yuri who has just exited his room. "Shingo, I want you to bring Neuwindst to meet our samurais. I have other thing I want to do"

"Understood. Master, can I ask you a question?"

"You may"

"May I know where are you going?"

"Certainly. I will be visiting the Kamiya Dojo" Orochi smiled evilly.

-

Kenshin eyed the newcomers wearily. The fact that he knew one of them didn't put him at ease. Mindful that Kaoru was in the house, he motioned toward another direction, signaling that he would meet them at the location he pointed, rather than at the dojo. The people nodded and left. Kenshin sighed and continued to finish his job.

Normally, hanging newly washed clothes brought a sense of satisfaction to him, but not that day.

Later, he met with the group of people who were waiting patiently for him at the place he pointed at. "Ohaiyo de gozaru"

"Ohaiyou, Himura" Yamagata, leading the group answered.

"Does this visit have something to do with Orochi?"

Yamagata was perplexed with the less cordial reception he got. "We have heard what happened"

Kenshin regarded all of them silently. The last time Yamagata met him it was to persuade him to join the army. And now, they have come to his house, probably to ask for his help to defeat Orochi. His house? Since when had the dojo become his house? Ignoring the inner conflict, Kenshin starred at Yamagata. "The army has doubled their manpower in the last few months. Isn't it enough to tackle him?"

The army commander neither missed the annoyed tone nor the veiled question. Somehow, Himura was fed up of being asked to settle the problems the Ishinshishi themselves created. But as the future of Japan probably lay in the hands of the smaller man in front of him, Yamagata was willing to bow and kiss his feet if it what was needed to get his assistance. "Our army and police force combined might not be enough to stop the madness"

Kenshin sighed. "What do you want sessha to do?"

"By now, we all have known what Orochi motives are. We need your help when he finally makes the final move"

"If I don't want to help?"

One of men that came with Yamagata took a step forward. "You're saying that you're scared?"

Kenshin merely turned toward Kamiya dojo. "Sessha is not scared. But sessha isn't a hitokiri anymore"

"Huh! What a crap!"

Yamagata looked at Kenshin and then at the man who said that. "Kakeru-san, you should not say that"

The man called Kakeru ignored him and continued. "This Orochi, Battousai, is our problem. What we Ishinshi should face. It's probably one of our sins that unleashed this problem"

Kenshin merely turned his head a bit. "Our sins? Yamagata?"

Yamagata lowered his head. "During the war, we d coerced a number of small factions into joining us, using less than scrupulous tactics. What Kakeru-san is implying is that this Orochi is probably the leader of one of those groups"

"I see"

Another one stepped forward. "No. You don't see. You have experienced first hand what Orochi can do. The only way to stop the threat to the Kamiya dojo is for you to join us. You can't protect them by being with them"

The surrounding atmosphere began to become uncomfortable, but Kakeru ignored it. "Kimoto-san is right. Look at how many enemies that attacked you and that Kamiya woman despite you being there to protect her" Kakeru wanted to continue but Yamagata's punch threw him to the ground.

"Don't ever talk to Himura-san in that manner again or I will have you shot" Yamagata didn't know it, but he had saved Kakeru's live. Kenshin was in a barely suppressed rage, despite his calm demeanor. "I'm sorry for our rudeness. And I apologize for disturbing you, Himura-san. We will take our leave" Disappointed, Yamagata and the others turned toward the carriages that had brought them there. While walking toward them, he tried to come up with alternative plans that didn't include Kenshin. All of them looked quite grim.

"Wait".

* * *

1 February 2005 

**Author's note**

1. It's been a while, but story flow problem has been plaguing me lately. Almost made me jump a few chapters ahead into the final battle instead of writing chapter 17 and 18. Oh well, things we must do to make ourself happy with our work. So, to let out some of the steam, I've been working on a weird Ranma side story. I'll post it after I have finished this story (or earlier).

2.Happy New Year! Yeah, A bit late you tell me, but think about it. A new year is just something we give a certain day to celebrate a milestone in our life. And this chapter is a mile stone for me.

3.I dedicate this chapter to all of you. Well, fujifunmun is a swell editor, and all of you whose reading this chapter, you contribute to its birth and hopefully its continuity. There would be no story if there is no reader, right?

Misenagi -> The secret is in the crust of the pizza. The hidden cheese does make it less cheesy in appearance. But the stuffed crust pizza still have more cheese.

Kik Tingi-> I'll gladly answer your question. Technically, it is a Kenshin and Kaoru match up. No, even Megumi in this story may seem kinder (or slightly OOC) than usual. But I believe she did that because of a reason. So there will be no fight between Kaoru and Megumi ( or other character). But, I'm keeping mum about what will happen in the end of my story. Matte kudasai, OK?

Bewarethemel->The wine's taste will mature, given time.


	19. Chapter 18

**Suegaku Na Aki**

**Chapter 18**

Liuetenant Tawarada Sanji checked his men for any sign of fatigue and smiled. His men were a bit tired, but in high spirits despite marching through the forest almost nonstop for two days in pursuit of what could be Orochi's trail. The intelligence office has sent the company to investigate rumors of suspicious activities in the area.

"Genjyo"

Sanji's right hand man and expert tracker run toward him and saluted. He saluted back. "How's the trail?"

"The trail is still quite clear. I have to revise my estimate regarding how many men used the trail"

"Is it bad?"

"No... In fact, instead of thirty, we are looking at a group comprising of ten to fifteen people"

Sanji mentally thanked his great fortune. He wasn't sure the two hundred men he commanded would be sufficient if Genjyo's estimation put the possible number to more than fifty. The fact that Orochi's army was better equipped and trained was acknowledged even by his superiors. Of course, that kind of conversation was strictly off limits to the rest of the Japanese army, whose morale can easily be swayed by such revelations. But, as pointed out to him, sometimes sheer numbers will be enough to defeat a better equipped enemy. 'Quantity is quality of its own', one of the generals quipped. Nevertheless, for his mission, he was given a free reign on equipping his troops with whatever weapons the army had in its arsenal.

"Sir" Sanji was broken out of his reverie. He arched his eyebrows at Genjyo.

"As I was saying, there was another trail that converged with the main trail"

"Was the trail made by a coach?"

"No, just foot steps" Genjyo led him to the second trail and pointed to the ground. "But these footsteps are a bit sunken, as if the men using the second trail were carrying heavy equipment"

Sanji looked to at convergence point and the main trail. "They met and traveled together from here on. How many from the second trail"

"Ten, or thirteen at most"

"So we're back to thirty"

"What shall we do?"

"Proceed"

A day later...

Sanji and his men approached the clearing cautiously. He could see a group of men from afar. The mature lieutenant smiled. His decision to press on allowed them to catch up with the band of men they were seeking. He made a signal for binoculars to be handed to him. Taking them from one of his man, he looked at the campsite. Some of the men were wearing armor, the kind normally used by samurais, brandishing swords, while a few of them were holding rifles. It was obvious that they were not there for agricultural purposes.

Sanji was about to give a signal for his men to surround the area when he saw one of his enemies walking toward their position. Gritting his teeth, he hoped that none of his men was trigger happy as their presence was to be kept hidden until all of them could get into strategic position. The man kept walking toward them. Sanji unsheathed his kodachi, a remembrance of the day when he used to fight as a samurai himself. To his shock, the man stopped a few meters in front of him and smiled. It shocked him even more when he realized who the man was.

"Ohayou, Tawarada-kun. We haven't seen each other since the revolution

Sanji rose from his hiding place, knowing that it was useless to keep himself to stay hidden anymore. But he motioned for his men to remain in their positions

"Ohayou, Tatewaki-senpai" It was said with a hint of regret. He and Tatewaki had served in the name of the emperor during the Bakufu revolution, slaying Tokugawa's men in countless battles. But, they parted company afterwards. Tatewaki and many samurais were not content with having their special status stripped off as the Meiji government wanted to create a society where everyone was equal. To them, the government had betrayed all of their sacrifices.

Tatewaki looked around the place, as if trying to locate the other soldiers. "Looks like one hundred fifty against the twenty three of us. Seems a bit unfair... to you that is"

Sanji just smiled, not taking the bait.

"Why don't all of you just come out in the open and have a bit of rest before we fight?"

"Huh?" Sanji marveled at the ridiculous suggestion.

Tatewaki pointed to some trees around them. Sanji looked and saw some kind of contraction hanging on their branches. "As you can see, the entire area is bobby trapped with explosives. We could have flushed out all of you just now, but we want to invite you out nicely. Just for the delete the old time's sake?" Sanji thought about offer. After waiting a few seconds, Tatewaki snapped his finger and one of the trees exploded, toppling over the position of one of Sanji's men. The poor man only managed to let out a scream before the tree crushed him

"The containers are not decoys. So, either you stay here and we burn all of you along with the forest, or you can follow me"

Sanji motioned for his men to follow him. He walked behind Tatewaki until the man pointed to a spot nearly one kilometer away. "There, go and have your men rest there. We can fight after half an hour. We would have offered you something to eat and drink, but you'll probably decline them. And we don't have enough supply to supplies for all of you"

"That would be fine" Sanji replied while looking at his men behind his back. _'Either Tatewaki clung to honor too much to realize what he was doing, or he was being stupid. Imagine, giving the advantage to my troop. Perhaps he wanted me to be lenient to him afterwards?'_

Tatewaki walked back to where his group has camped. He looked at the blonde man with disdain.

Neuwindst shrugged.

Tatewaki snorted before looking at Shingo. "My lord, I have carried out your order"

"Good. The rested army will be able to provide you with the fight you need"

"True. But why is this wretched gaijin still here?"

"This wretched gaijin is here to make sure that the armor he made for all of you are of good quality" Neuwindst answered. "Also, just because I decided not to speak Japanese for the past few days doesn't mean I don't know it"

"Hmmph" Tatewaki just nodded to Orochi and went to his place.

Neuwindst just shook his head and took a pull from his bottle of whiskey.

Fifteen minutes later the government soldiers and the exiled samurais began their fight. Neuwindst whistled happily as he watched the soldiers' bullets bouncing harmlessly off the armor that Tatewaki and his men has donned. As he and Shingo watched the samurais beginning their slaughter of the riflemen, he made a comment. "You know, I have read the Chinese book regarding the 36 stratagems. And one of the stratagems told of a story similar to what is happening now. A Chinese commander and his army fought a rival army and managed to drive them back. Then as they were returning home from the fight, their enemy turned back and chased after him. When the enemy managed to catch up, the commander let the opposing opposing force and his for a while"

"And what happened?" Shingo asked, interested.

"Same thing what will happen here. The enemy was soundly beaten. When an army like the one Tatewaki's fighting right now traveled for a long time, they will become tired. When given a chance to rest, their body will ache; their will to fight will dissipate. Your boss sure knows his stuff"

"I'm impressed. For an arms dealer, you're very well read.''

"Nothing impresses potential clients better than me knowing their country's past history"

"And local liquors?"

"That too. But let me ask a question. Didn't Orochi trust the armor that I provided that he asked you to use the tactic on the enemy?"

Shingo smiled. "No. In fact, Tatewaki and some of his men are part of Orochi's Kensai bodyguards"

"Then why?"

"You'll find out soon enough" The fight they were witnessing had ended, with only a few of the Meiji soldiers taken alive. Shingo motioned for Tatewaki to bring the soldiers to him. Roughly, Tatewaki and his men dragged the soldiers and threw them near Shingo's feet.

"Bow, you government dogs" Tatewaki commanded, kicking one of them in the stomach.

"Maa maa" Shingo placated. "That wouldn't be necessary. Thank you for your help, Tatewaki-kun"

Tatewaki took it as an order to leave and left.

Neuwindst put his hands in the pockets. "Orochi's first prisoners of war"

"Don't say something degrading them, Neuwindst"

The arms dealer lips twitched into a small smile. He was beginning to see Orochi's plan. The man would influence the government soldiers to join them, boosting Orochi's army's number. He turned toward Shingo "Oh. Sorry for being rude. Should we provide them with food?"

"Stop with this insult!" One of their prisoners croaked harshly. "We will not grovel at your feet for our lives to be spared. We know what kind of scum that Orochi is"

Shingo sighed and put one of his feet on the back of the man's head, forcing his face to the ground. "Actually, with insults or not, all of you are still my prisoners. So you should know where you stand. Since you have accused my lord wrongly, I demand for an apology from you for all the words against Orochi" Shingo eased the pressure on the man's head.

"NEVER!"

"Neuwindst, shoot one of the others"

Neuwindst took out his pistol and shot the man closest to him. "Oops, I missed" he exclaimed as the man groaned in pain while clutching his injured foot. He turned toward Shingo and asked, "Did you asked me to shoot to kill?" And the same time he shot at the man's left hand. "Oh, missed again" Neuwindst was beginning to feel that getting the prisoners to join their side was not Orochi's plan.

Meanwhile Shingo looked at the man beneath his foot. "Well?"

"No!" This time the word was said with less determination. A shot rang out and Neuwindst looked at the second man he had shot, this time in the shoulder. "Emm. Sorry Shingo-san. It looked as if this man was going to tell him not to apologize" The blonde smiled sheepishly at the injured man. "Ah, that can lead to serious infection. Wait, let me help you" He opened his bottle of whiskey and poured everything inside the bottle on the man's shoulder. A loud howl echoed through the area.

The man who defied Shingo's command was trembling. "You're a ..." Shingo pressed the man to the ground once more. "Please refrain from speaking such words anymore as you surely don't want to owe to my lord more apologies" He released his hold on the man. "Now, listen carefully. All I want from you is just a proper apology. A bow and a mumbled word of sorry would be enough"

"Maybe we can find out where his family lives. Then he would be more than happy to grovel and kiss our feet" Neuwindst suggested.

He earned a brief glare from Shingo and decided not to add his suggestions to the conversation anymore. He changed his attention to the rebellious prisoner as the downed man struggled to say something. Shingo eased the pressure on the man's head to let him speak.

"Please... Let me apologize for my cruel and rude words toward your exalted leader" Apparently the man had a family.

Neuwindst's lips curled upward in a discrete smile. Despite Shingo's not liking what he said, what he did managed to get the reaction Shingo wanted.

"All right" Shingo lifted his foot and the man bowed and stuttered an apology. He bowed again a few times.

Shingo motioned for one of his men to approach him. "See to it that these prisoners are fed and treated for injuries before letting them go" Orochi looked at the man still bowing to him. "See to it that you go back to your family safely" He made a dismissive gesture and walked away. Neuwindst followed. "Do not repeat similar actions or words whenever you're with my lord. He didn't expect you to subscribe to his ideals, but he expects you to respect him as much as he respects you. Understand?"

"Yeah. Never thought that he thought highly of me"

"Oh, he does. He ask me to commend you on the nice job you did with your armor"

"Of course" Neuwindst glanced toward Tatewaki. "Is it true that you're going to part with that band of samurais?"

"They will keep your armor, if that is what you're trying to ask. Not to worry, we know that you can always create armor better than that"

"Of course"

"Good. We want lighter armor for soldiers"

"Ah. I know you wanted that, so I already had them fabricated and they should be ready in a few days time.

"As sharp as always" Shingo complimented, his eyes following their former prisoners leaving the place. "With these demoralized veterans returning to their place and a group of renegade samurais running amok in small cities, it would not be long before the government's foundation shaken to its core"

"And the government will dispatch a lot of troops to deal with the Samurais. They will die, but not before accomplishing what your boss planned. Clever"

Neuwindst had heard about how Shishio plotted to take over the whole of Japan by trying to plunge the whole country into another 'restoration' war. Of course, being the person that installed the weaponry on the gunboat Enishi delivered to the power crazed assassin afforded him with that privilege. Compared to what Shishio plotted, Orochi's plan was more covert. He was trying to instigate the people to rise against the government, instead of forcing them to submit to him. That's why Shishio's plan failed, the blonde haired arms dealer thought. Subjugating people through fear wouldn't work for long, as they will rise, as proven time after time in countless civilization. But, manipulating them indirectly, 'seducing' them; is what will work. Being able to carry out such a devious plan was not easy, and it takes a genius to orchestrate such a plan.

Neuwindst was a gambler, and he knew when he saw a winner.

* * *

18 February 2005 

**Author's note**

1. Oh, well. Here's chapter 18, and uploaded on 18th. Convinient, no?

2. I went through this chapter thrice after getting it from fujifunmum and changed some of it. It may be impossible, but it seems that my English has become worse.

lolo popoki -> Without going to details, I assure you that Kenshin WILL snap (yeah, even the summary suggested that, so I'm not spoiling anything). What happened then? Emm... I'm still not satisfied with my beta chapter 19, 20 and 21.


	20. Chapter 19

_**Suenagaku na Aki**_

**Chapter 19**

Yamagata looked out at the night view of Tokyo from the window of his office, with his hands behind his back. Despite the calm expression he was wearing, his mind was in turmoil. He had received the grave news regarding the defeat of Tawarada Sanji and his men. Orochi made sure that a handful of survivors managed to return to deliver the news. Already, there was an unconfirmed report that a wave of fear was sweeping the Japanese army. A rumor saying that Orochi's men were demons also began to circulate. Yamagata's gloved right hand balled into a fist. "Kso!" He cursed through gritted teeth.

A knock on the door interrupted his inner mussing. "Come in" From the reflection on the windows he could see his assistant coming in with a cup of tea. A whiff of tea permeated inside the room. He smiled. His assistant had prepared the Earl of Grey, a blend of black tea from England he had learned to like. "Put the cup on the table"

As his assistant put down the cup, Yamagata asked him, "Do we have any news regarding Orochi, Sageru?"

"A small town has been captured. According to the description we got from people who managed to escape, the occupiers are the same people that defeated Tawarada"

Yamagata frowned. "I see"

"One of the generals suggested we send a division there to quell the rebel samurais"

The army chief slightly turned his head away from the window. "A division? That many men as opposed to ten of them?"

"To ensure that they will be defeated. Reports from survivors revealed that they were wearing armor that can protect them from our bullets"

"Just like the earlier armor protected swordsmen from earlier guns. How about alternatives? Can't we send swordsmen to defeat them?"

Sageru shook his head. "We will have a hard time assembling experienced and skilled swordsmen"

Yamagata chuckled. Ironically, the Meiji government had caused the shortage of the swordsmen with its policy of disallowing people to carry real swords. This, in turn caused the people to feel safer, with many veterans letting their skills wither and the new generation more preoccupied with foreign culture. He went to the table and took the cup. As the warm and reddish liquid flowed down his throat, his assistant asked him a question.

"How about if we send Battousai there instead? He will be up to the task"

He put the cup down slowly and smiled sadly. Obviously Sageru knew the reason why he didn't like the idea of sending many soldiers to quell to rebel samurais. He needed those men; Orochi might attack and capture important cities such as Tokyo or Kyoto. The result would be disastrous compared to letting the enemy control a small town. Unfortunately, not doing anything to retake the town would be very demoralizing to the army. Then there was another alternative, which was to send Himura instead. Yamagata chuckled. Even if by some miracle he agreed to help, he was needed to defeat Orochi. Yamagata wouldn't admit it to anyone, but having Himura was more important than having 1000 riflemen. He looked at his empty cup. "Enough of this English tea. Bring me the strongest sake we have. Also, prepare a division to retake the town"

Yamagata didn't care if he became an alcoholic.

----------------------------------------------------

Kenshin gazed at the moon longingly. _'Tomoe. Here I am, looking at the moon, trying to find the answers to my question. What would you say about me now? Why did you smile when we met in my dream? What did you want to tell me? What should I do?'_

The talk with Yamagata and his entourage a few days ago had left Kenshin with a feeling of an impending doom. The enemy had begun its offensive, and the time was running out for him to decide what he would do. All he knew was that Aoshi and Saitou were already involved. How about him? He looked at the sakabatou hanging by his side. It would be hard to defeat Orochi with that sword. It is not because the sword wasn't good enough, and not because his sword technique wasn't powerful. In fact, Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu is one of the most sword powerful techniques ever created. It was that he was tired. He was tired of the never ending fight.

'_No, we're not tired of our fight'_

'_Then, what are we tired of?'_ Kenshin asked his hitokiri persona.

---------------

With only moonlight passing through the rice paper wall illuminating the dojo, Kaoru performed her kata slowly and quietly. She didn't want the others to know about her practicing, especially Megumi. The female doctor had warned her not to move around too much, fearing that Kaoru could reopen her wounds. But the kendo instructor was bored being confined mostly to her room, mostly doing nothing. To make it worse, even Misao was telling her to take it easy.

As she finished her kata, she momentarily froze as she felt a ki approaching the dojo until she realized that it was Kenshin. She considered running away to her room to pretended sleeping but decided that it was useless as Kenshin probably knew she was in the dojo. A short while later, the dojo door slide open and there he was, the man Kaoru desired to be with.

"You're supposed to be in bed, that that you are" Kenshin said, his face mostly masked by the darkness. However Kaoru felt that his voice was somewhat different.

"Gomen. I can't sleep, so I was running through some kata to clear my mind" Kaoru said. "I did it slowly" she added, wanting to make it clear to Kenshin that she was mindful of her injuries.

Kenshin took a step forward and Kaoru gasped. There was no mistaking the yellowish glow in his eyes. "Kenshin?"

He continued closing the distance between them until they were a meter apart. "Kaoru" He said neutrally.

The young kendo teacher tried to say something but couldn't find her voice. She only nodded apprehensively. The fact that he did not add 'dono' to her name shocked her. Then time slowed to a crawl as she saw his mouth move ever slowly.

"Kaoru, sayonara"

Her eyes became wide. "Kenshin...," she whispered.

"You have been a hospitable host. But the time has come for me to move on with my own life"

Kaoru stood facing him, transfixed, not knowing what to do. But the lump in her heart was becoming too painful to ignore. "Kenshin…. Why?"

"I don't want anyone to be involved in my personal problems"

In response, Kaoru balled her hands and looked down. Her body shook. "What do you mean? It is not your problem alone. Everyone is facing the same threat from Orochi" She looked up in anger. "What makes you think that he is after you alone?"

"He issued a challenge to me. That would count as something" Kenshin wondered why he was still there. He had planned to just say goodbye to her and leave. But now he felt that going away would be hard, and his body felt rooted to the floor.

"That's not true. He challenged the whole of Japan to try and stop him" Kaoru's voice was higher than before. "I understand if you want to fight him" She looked down. "But… will you come back?" she whispered. "Come back to me?"

Kenshin looked at her, not saying anything at all. His sharp gaze caused her to finger her bokken nervously. After a long time, he finally answered her. "No"

"Why?"

"Why must I come back to you? I'm not related to you"

"But…"

"Kaoru-DONO, as I said when you asked me to stay, I am a rurouni and will continue with my wandering. And tonight I am leaving" He turned but was stop stopped by a desperate pull on his gi.

"Please" Kaoru buried her face on his shoulder. "Please return" Sobs began to escape her lips as her tears moistened a few spots on his gi. "I don't care what you do, but please return to me later"

"Why must I do that?" His voice was even.

"Be… because… I love you"

Kenshin turned to look at her and was mesmerized by her pleading eyes. Those were the eyes he found himself drowning in a lot of times. Those were the eyes that narrowed when he made her angry. Those azure orbs were the ones that showed concern whenever he was injured or fell sick. Those were the shining stars that glittered when she laughed at the crazy antics happening in her dojo. And they were shedding tears because of him.

The ex-hitokiri Battousai found himself wanting to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"Kenshin… please promise me you will return…"

He kept quiet, trying to will himself from encircling her with his hands. It was very difficult to keep still. Her raven hair was beckoning for him to bury his head in it, to inhale its scent.

"I… I…I promise to learn to become a proper lady"

His hands rebelled and began to move when he remembered the fight at the temple. He still could remember in detail of how Kaoru nearly got killed trying to save him. He simply wouldn't permit that to happen anymore. Kenshin had to stop his hands. If he failed, he would gather her in them and tell her how he doesn't want to hurt her, telling her that she was fine as she is, and he would return to her. Then it would be very hard, even impossible for him to leave her. He had to do something. Kenshin steeled his nerve and made his decision.

The slap sent Kaoru tumbling on the cold wooden floor. Still standing, Kenshin looked at his hand. It felt numb. Everything else, including his heart also felt numb. The slap was surreal. He continued looking at his hand. It never occurred to him that he would did that to her. Didn't he make the promise to himself that he wouldn't hurt her? _'Kisama! What have I done!_'

Dazed, Kaoru put her hand on her cheek. The slap was not that hard, but was left its stinging sensation. "Kenshin…"

Again, he felt the great urge to run to her and begged for forgiveness. He gritted his teeth. He must not do that. He has to get away from her as fast as possible.

"Kenshin?"

"You…" Kenshin felt himself losing control and becoming angry all of the sudden. "WHY DON'T YOU GET WHAT I AM TRYING TO TELL YOU? Don't you get it?" His body became tense.

"What do you… mean?"

He stomped toward her and grabbed her by the gi. Roughly, he yanked her, lifting her body close to him, near to his face. "I am going away, and I vow never to return"

"Why?" Kaoru croaked, tears still falling down her cheeks. "What did I do wrong?"

He looked at her in the eyes and gritted his teeth, "Simple. You're weak. And I hate you for being a weakling. I'm tired of you depending on me all the time, slowing me down" He sneered. "You couldn't even cook and wash clothes properly. What makes you think you can really become a proper lady?" He laughed menacingly. "And despite being a tomboy, you couldn't even hold a candle to other fighters. Even that boy shows more potential than you. I wouldn't be surprised if he can beat you in two years time. Face it, Kaoru-DONO, you're simply useless"

Kaoru's eyes became wide. Then the lights in them began to dim as what he said filtered through. When Kenshin released his hold on her, she fell on the floor unceremoniously.

Kenshin began to walk away when he felt her standing and stopped.

"Kenshin, I am sorry for being such a nuisance to you. But, still, I sincerely wish for your happiness"

He continued walking, not wanting to look at her. He didn't even realize that something was missing from Kaoru's voice. The rurouni left the dojo without looking back.

* * *

**Author's note (20 July 2005)**

1) It's been a while since I updated. I know, but I have been seduced by the dark force's Lord Procrastinate and Lord Picky themselves.

2) Somehow, I really don't know how to proceed with the story. I really know what will happen, what to write, but it wouldn't come out in a timely manner. You probably noticed the delay between this and the previous chapter. Heck, I'm also writing a Ranma fanfiction (haven't published that one yet) and I'm also having the same problem. Well, at least the problem is more acute regarding that other fanfiction.

3) Although I should keep this out of my work, but I have to make a comment on the recent London bombing. I strongly disagree with ALL KINDS OF TERRORISM being committed. I saw in the national geographic show last week about chimpanzees killing chimpanzees from another group in a calculated manner. I thought to myself, "Wow. Maybe we're just sophisticated chimpanzees" Maybe that's a bit dark humor, but I wish we should not repay hatred with hatred.

_This chapter was beta read by fujifunmum_


	21. Chapter 20

_**Suenagaku na Aki**_

**Chapter 20**

As the crack of the dawn, a silhouette was seen making its way to the Kamiya dojo. It hummed merrily, something in hand. As he walk toward the dojo, Yahiko thought about what he was going to do that day as his teacher was recuperating from her injuries. He smiled. There was no way he's going to tell her that he was going to sweep the dojo after practice that day without being told. After all, he has a reputation as a brat to uphold.

He opened the door, expecting the dojo to be empty. He was surprised to see Kaoru standing in the middle of it, staring down at the floor.

"Busu! What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in bed"

"Busu? That must be it" Kaoru raised her head. Yahiko was shocked to see the bangs under her eyes. It was evident that she didn't sleep the previous night. A ghostly smile appeared on her lips. "Now I understand why he left"

"Who left?" Yahiko asked. Then his mind reminded him of something that crossed his mind few minutes before. "Where's Kenshin?" Normally Kenshin would be first to awake in the morning and would be in the kitchen, preparing breakfast.

Kaoru didn't answer.

"Where's Kenshin?"

"I am weak. I am weak. I am a weakling" Kaoru mumbled to herself.

"Busu"

Kaoru kept muttering, telling herself how useless she was. Yahiko didn't like what he hear.

"Kaoru?"

"I am weak…"

"KAORU!"

She didn't even look at Yahiko. "He has left. This time he wouldn't be returning"

"Masaka…"

Then Megumi came through the dojo door. She looked very worried. "Here you are, Kaoru. I have been searching for you"

Kaoru didn't say anything.

"You should be resting now"

No answer.

"Kaoru, you're putting stress on your injuries. You might cause them to reopen if you are not careful" Megumi was becoming more agitated by the lack of response from her.

Still no answer.

The doctor played her trump card. "What will Ken-san say if he sees you like this? Do you want to make him worry about you?"

Then the dojo atmosphere began to change. Although Yahiko couldn't read ki yet, he felt as if he was being oppressed by a powerful aura. A quick look at Megumi who had dropped on her knees to the floor confirmed his assumption. And the source of the aura was his teacher whose face was emotionless. Then the aura disappeared as Kaoru put on a fake smile.

"Ne, since Kenshin has left, I supposed Megumi would be in charge of cooking as I couldn't even boil water without burning it. I better go and buy the ingredients at the market" She walked out of the door, leaving Yahiko and Megumi together.

It took two minutes for Megumi to even stand up. But the tremble in her body was still evident. "What happened just now?"

"Kaoru somehow managed to scare both of us without even trying"

"No, stupid! I'm talking about Ken-san! What happened to him that caused her to react like that?"

Yahiko hesitated. "Kenshin left again"

She shook her head. "That baka. When will he return?"

"Oi!" Sano popped his head near the door? Why do you sent Jou-chan to the market to buy the food stuff? Aren't she is supposed to be in bed or something?"

"Sano", Megumi said as she starred at him, "Ken-san has left"

"Huh?" Sano couldn't believe his ears. "To the market? Good, because..."

Megumi punched him as hard as she could. "Can you stop joking right now? Ken-san has left the dojo," she said as she rubbed her painful arn.

Rubbing his cheek, Sano looked at Yahiko for confirmation.

Yahiko looked grim. "When I came just now, I saw Kaoru standing in the middle of this room like a zombie. Then Kaoru said he left. I assume it is to fight that Orochi"

"I saw a group of men talked to Ken-san a few days ago"

The young samurai looked at her before continuing, "Then she said that this time he wouldn't be return"

A loud crashing sound echoed through the wall as Sano's fist went through on the door. Sano looked at his fist, his body shaking in anger. "Kso! This door will be expensive to repair. This is his fault" he said, gritting his teeth.

"Sano…" Megumi said worriedly.

"I'll teach him to leave me behind… ", he thought for a moment before continuing, "I'll make sure that dumb ass red head will come home, even if I have to beat him senseless" He was about to turn when Megumi stopped him.

"What!" He barked.

Megumi walked until their faces were close to each other. "Here" she said as she handed him two tins of medicine. "Itte rasshai, Sano. Come home safely, with Ken-san of course"

Sano blinked, not knowing what to say. Finally he took the tins and gave a thumb up sign. "Itte kimass" Suddenly he leaned and stole a quick and chaste kiss, moving away before Megumi could even respond.

"Sano…" Her expression was soft

"Yeah?"

A scowl appeared on her face "BAKA!"

---------------------------------------------------------------

Outside the dojo, Aoshi was examining his kodachis while Misao stood beside him with a hurt look.

"You know this will happen. That's why you asked me to come along; to console her. Why didn't you tell me earlier? Don't you trust me?" Misao said accusingly.

He stopped and looked at her before shaking his head slightly. "I didn't expect this to happen. The real reason I brought you here is to reactivate our cell in Tokyo and lead them. You know more about them than me; I was out of touch with them for a long time. We need everyone to be in their toes, because Orochi may attack Tokyo. But now, after what happened, I also want you to keep an eye on her" He looked at a distant place. "Yuri might use the same tactic again"

Misao nodded. "I'll do my best"

He turned his body toward the dojo's gate. "I know you will"

"Be careful"

"I will. I have someone to return to" He gave her one of his rare smile.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Yahiko watched intently at his teacher as she went through her normal kata. Two days has passed since Kenshin has left them. It was two days since Kaoru changed. All of her sunny disposition had disappeared, being replaced by a mere shadow of her former self.

He really missed her old self, even the part that always hit him in the head whenever he insults her.

As Kaoru's bokken sliced through the air, her young apprentice shuddered. He felt that somehow something was missing from her movement. As the bamboo sword stopped in the midair, Yahiko knew what it was.

The technique lacked any kind of passion.

"_Here you are, Yahiko. You should stop hiding under the house, that you should. Kaoru-dono is waiting for you at the dojo"_

_Yahiko went out of his hiding place and dusted his cloth. "How many times I have told that old hag! I want to learn Hiten Mitsurugiryuu. Not a kiddie sword technique"_

"_You are a kid"_

"_Wrong! I am a Tokyo Samurai!"_

_Kenshin smiled. "Yahiko, you should learn Kamiya Kasshinryu, that you should"_

"_But, Kenshin! I don't want to…"_

_The former hitokiri kneeled so that his eyes were at the same level with Yahiko's. "Believe me, although you may think that Kamiya Kasshinryuu is weak, it has something that Hiten Mitsurugiryuu lacks"_

"_Right… I REALLY believe you"_

"_It was created from a dream, Yahiko. You can say that the technique is a dream sword technique"_

"_Dream sword technique! What good is a dream technique when it goes against Hiten Mitsurugiryu's attacks?"_

_Kenshin paused as he tried to think something to reply._

"_It is the user, not the technique that will determine how strong the technique will be" Kenshin changed his approach. "Have you seen Kaoru while she was going through her kata or while fighting?"_

"_Uhuh"_

"_Compare her to me when I'm fighting. Can you see the difference?"_

"_No. Except she was way slower than you"_

"_Don't worry. Some day you will see it. Anyway, Yahiko, remember this. Dreams are what propel us forward in life, Yahiko, not power" _

_Yahiko was awestruck. _

_Kenshin looked at the sky. "Once, there was a boy with a dream. He grew into a teenager and lost that dream" He sighed. "Now, the teenager is a man, a man hoping to rediscover his dream" He put his hand on Yahiko's shoulder and smiled. "Don't make the same mistake as that boy did"_

_Yahiko nodded_

As he looked on, he finally realized the difference. Kaoru put her heart in every technique, as if expressing herself through the techniques. That didn't appear in Kenshin's fighting techniques. Even though his ougi required him to have a strong will to live in order to execute the technique, it didn't manifest itself in the attack. All the attacks were cold and without emotion, as of expected from a killing technique. And looking at Kaoru, Yahiko surmised that her attacks have become as emotionless as Kenshin's.

And it scared him very much.

Then out of the sudden, Kaoru jumped to perform an attack, something that surprised him as he has learnt almost all of Kamiya Kasshinryu's techniques and none of them were aerial attacks.

When the tip of the bokken touched the dojo floor, the nearby area cracked. It was as if it has been attacked by a weaker version of Sano's Futae No Kiwami. Meanwhile, Kaoru remained in her position, not opening her eyes.

"Kaoru!" Yahiko called out after seeing her not moving for a while.

Kaoru opened her eyes, but didn't stand up. Her eyes were emotionless. "You don't have to clean the floor today, Yahiko"

Cautiously, he walked toward her. When he was next to her, he hugged her. "Kaoru, you should allow your injuries to recover. Even though he was just being more stupid as usual, Kenshin wouldn't want to see you in this condition"

Kaoru closed her eyes as her body began to shake. Yahiko expected her to cry and did not expect her to laugh. "Ken…shin…" She said slowly, punctuating every syllable.

"Yes, the dumb rurouni we come to love" Yahiko cringed as he realized that he made a mistake. He shouldn't have used the word 'love'. He didn't know how his teacher would react to it.

"Love?" Kaoru shook her head. She released her hold on the bokken, letting it fall to the floor and looked at her hands. She then turned toward him. "Yahiko, I am frightened" Despite what she said, her voice was even.

"Kaoru…" It really hurt him to see her like this. The first time Kenshin left, she was crying all the time. It was quite easy to bring her out that state. But this time she has acted differently. Both he and Megumi have tried everything that they did the first time around to bring her around, but without success. Megumi has remarked that even if she slapped Kaoru, the assistant shihondai probably wouldn't stop her this time. Kaoru has simply given up.

She put a hand on her heart "I can't feel anything here anymore," she whispered.

"Kaoru!" Yahiko encircled her in his arms out of desperation. "Don't say it"

"…Only…Only the darkness and the loneliness"

"KAORU! SNAP OUT IT!" He shook her body slightly before hugging her even tighter. "You… you're scaring me" he said as he tried to contain the tears from coming out.

"I'm sorry, Yahiko" she said while stroking his head gently.

In response, Yahiko began to cry. "Hit me. Make me clean the floor. Punish me by making me perform 10000 practice stroke. ANYTHING, as long as the Kaoru I know come back" He buried his head on her neck. "Please, Kaoru. I want the real you back"

Kaoru hugged him back. "Yahiko, right now, I don't even know which one is my real self" _"And this feeling of emptiness… I…I begin to… enjoy this painful feeling…Have…have I finally lost it? Have I gone mad?" _She pushed Yahiko slightly away so that she could see his face. Then she wiped away his tears using the back of her hand.

"Ka..Kaoru…" Yahiko stuttered nervously while trying to form his words.

But a look from his face was enough to tell the young woman what he wanted to say. "Don't worry, Yahiko. I wouldn't do it, I promise" She closed her eyes. _"At least for now"_

_1_

_

* * *

_

**Author's note (04 August 2005)**

1) Another month, and another post. I would like to thank you all for keeping up with me and my inconsistent uploading of new chapters.

2) When I start writing, I was thinking like "Oh, I'm going to write the fourth arc, and there must be a lesson that Kenshin will learn, as he did with the previous arcs" And that something is what I feel Kenshin didn't learn in the "Seishouhen"

lolo popoki --> I was thinking of following the normal way Kenshin will act when he has to make a very decision. But then it would not tally with his darker 'third personality'. In time (I hope) you will probably understand about Kenshin's third personality. When Kaoru begged him not to go, his mind was in a turmoil. So, he has to do something, anything, as long as he could keep her away. Then he got mad at her because he was frustated and felt guilty. So, you can say Kenshin's a bit OOC now.

_This chapter was beta read by fujifunmum_


	22. Chapter 21

_**Suenagaku na Aki**_

**Chapter 21**

Yamagata was looking at the men assembled in front of him with some unease. He already knew about the past 'dispute' between Saitou and Himura, but he couldn't explain what was happening between Himura and the tall street fighter who followed him. Aren't they supposed to be friends? Why is there so much tension between the two of them, as if a fight could break out anytime?

And the Oniwabanshuu's leader's unreadable gaze on him caused him to sweat, despite him being an experienced war veteran. And that former Juppongatana, Chou. Yamagata still had misgivings about including him in the group, but he needed all the good fighters that he could find. He sighed and cleared his throat. "Gentlemen," he began. "We're gathered here to discuss a very important thing"

"You said gentlemen. Why must we have the uncouth kid here?" Saitou gestured at Sanosuke which caused him to glare at him instead of Kenshin. Chou snickered.

Before the situation got out of control, Yamagata cleared his throat once more.

--------------------------

"Oi! Kenshin!" Sano called out at the small man who was walking away. "Oi! Wait for me!" He ran to catch up with him.

"What do you want?" Kenshin asked quietly.

"Why?" Sano asked gruffly.

"Be more specific"

Sanosuke was too angry to be intimidated by Kenshin's dangerous words. "Specific! I'll give you your damn specific! Why in the hell have you been avoiding me for the past few days?"

Kenshin didn't reply but continued walking.

"Oi! Don't you hear what I said?"

Kenshin ignored him.

"Damn you!" Sano fist was speeding toward the back his friend's head but Kenshin moved his head slightly to the left and evaded it.

"If you pull that one more time, Sano, I will treat you as my enemy" Kenshin turned toward the former gangster.

Sano gasped. Kenshin's eyes were amber. After a few seconds of silence, Kenshin turned and walked again. Determined to get his answer, Sano followed him until they exited the building. Kenshin keep walking while Sano tailed him until they finally arrived at a hill.

"Don't you have something better to do?" Kenshin asked coldly

"Che! I am going to follow you everywhere until we return to Kamiya dojo"

"I'm not returning there"

"Damn it! You will return there. Do you know what happened after you left? Jou-chan stood in the middle dojo like a zombie"

"I don't care"

"Like hell you don't"

"I already told her I'm not returning. It's her fault that she acted stupid"

"Damn you!" Sano lunged toward Kenshin but the former hitokiri disappeared from his view. He stopped. Then to his shock, he felt the other man's ki behind him. Kenshin was standing back to back to him. He expected to be attacked, but Kenshin merely took a step away.

"Listen, Sanosuke" His voice was soft. "Ten years ago, I made a promise to my wife that I would dedicate my life to helping others" Kenshin hung his head. "I promised that I would atone for all my sins. This is the path that I have taken, and this is the path I will follow after this"

Sano snorted. "Oh. So you're going to cast us aside?" he snapped his finger. "Just like that!"

"You, Kaoru, Yahiko and the others; all of you are just some people I met while following my path; just mere passersby"

"Bullshit. Just philosophical crap. Maybe to you I'm just one of the people you helped. Hey, I don't give a hoot if you don't think of me as friend. But, I saw how you reacted around Jou-chan. She is not just mere 'passerby' to you. We were together during the fight in the blasted temple and I am sure as hell that you really care for her"

"SHUT UP!" Kenshin shouted. He clenched his hands so tight that the knuckles were white. "Shut… up…" His body trembled.

"Kenshin…" Sano put his hand on his friend's shoulder but was roughly brushed aside. _"What's wrong with this guy?"_

"I want to dedicate my life to help others. Can't all of you respect that?"

"Kenshin…"

The ex-hitokiri shook his head, telling Sano that he has calmed down. "That fight… with Enishi…," Kenshin stuttered, "It was not her that I fought for. I fought… so that… I can live… and… continue protecting people. Kaoru-dono was simply a captive, the owner of the dojo, nothing more" Kenshin smiled bitterly "I have tried to convince myself to believe in the fantasy that all of us were fated to be together, but the reality is that my life's journey has to be continued alone, without anyone else. You can return to the dojo now; tell her that I wouldn't won'treturn"

"She did not send me"

Kenshin became more relaxed.

"She's suffering now, you know"

"I don't give a damn about what she does now. She can cry to an early grave if she wants"

"So you like her to suffer?"

"It's always her! Always her! Or someone else. Either it revolves around someone I have to save or someone who's out to get me. What about me?" A lone tear rolled down his cheek. "Doesn't anyone care about ME! Doesn't anyone care about how I feel having to fight endless enemies!" The stream of tears flowed freely from his eyes. "Don't you wonder how much it hurt me to slap Kaoru and tell her to forget me? Or how much I 'enjoy' knowing that she's suffering right now because of me?"

"Masaka…"

"No one really cared about my feelings. But that doesn't matter, does it? I have to fight again, this time against Orochi. So, I will fight and get rid of him, even if I have to kill him" Kenshin walked away.

Sano was speechless and could only watch as the redhead swordsman left. "You're wrong," he whispered. "Jou-chan cares about you. You said that it pains you having to fight and no one cares. Obviously you didn't see her shedding her tears at your pain. I did. I may be an idiot, but even I can see that Kaoru's world revolves around you. You should have let her inside your heart; her heart would have protected yours" Then he hung his head. "_Jou-chan, gomen. I have failed you. The talk with Kenshin just now; it was like talking to multiple Kenshin personas. I don't know what happened to the two of you that night, but it affects him as well. Maybe… maybe the Rurouni we knew and loved is gone" _He raised his head, while clenching his fists. "_But I will stay with him to keep him from breaking his vow. That's the least I can do. And I know that you would want me to do it"_

--------------------------

"So, Battousai's back. Are you going to finish your duel with Battousai, boss?" Chou asked to his boss who was sitting on a chair with both feet on the table, polishing his katana with a piece of cloth.

"Maybe" Saitou brought his katana closer until he could see his reflection on it.

"What! You see how he acted during the briefing. It was like the time when he fought me. And, his eyes were amber"

Saitou sheathed his sword. "That may be true, but that's not the Battousai that I knew. He is different; even more violent than the time during Bakumatsu. Even if I fight him, it will be to uphold my Aku Zaku San principle, not to finish the duel. But for now, the two of us have more important task to perform, which is to defeat Orochi" He sneered at door , "Isn't that what you want to hear me say?"

Chou turned his attention to it while wandering who was outside the room.

Outside the room, Yamagata began to walk away, not wanting to enter anymore. He wasn't planning on eavesdropping on their conversation, but wanted to talk to Saitou regarding something. When he already has his hand on the door knob, he accidentally heard the exchange between the Chou and Saitou and stopped. Now, embarrassed by Saitou, he decided to talk to the ex-Shinsengumi later.

"Yamagata-san"

He turned around to see that he was not alone inside the corridor. "Oh, it's you, Shinomori-san. How can I help you?"

"I wish to talk to you in private for a moment", Aoshi told him.

Despite appreciating the Oniwabanshuu leader's participation in the group, Yamagata mentally sighed as what he will hear would probably take a few years off his life. Nevertheless, he agreed.

They walked to a vacant room at the end of the corridor and entered it.

"Now, what is it that you want to talk about?" Yamagata asked.

"When you briefed us of the current situation, you only talked about what Orochi is and how we must defeat him in order to preserve Japan's future"

"Yes. Did I miss anything?"

"I would like to know about how you organized the security forces to deal with his threat"

Yamagata hesitated and the look wasn't lost on Aoshi. Yamagata didn't trust him yet.

"Very well, since you're reluctant to tell me, I just need to confirm some information. First, the bulk of army and police forces are being concentrated on major cities to protect them" The other man's silence confirmed what he said, so Aoshi continued. "Few army divisions are sent to major conflict areas, such as a town captured by renegade samurais"

"That is true,"Yamagata let out a long breath. "Our movements were that easy to find out, were they? What else do you know?"

"I know that the police are helping Orochi spread his influence"

"That is preposterous! Are you insinuating that the police force is betraying us?"

"No. But what the police are doing right now is exactly what he predicted"

"Tell me more"

"Do you suddenly have lack of police officers?"

"Yes, but that is…"

"Because most of them were assigned to protect some politicians" Aoshi cut him off.

"Err… yes. But we're drafting new recruits"

"That is not enough. Due to the shortage of police officers, crime rate is increasing throughout Japan. This in turn, will cause the population to blame the government"

Yamagata was amazed by the other man's intelligence. "But the politicians we are protecting are important"

"Yet these politicians you are assigning your best men to protect are notoriously known for their corruption. The people wouldn't appreciate the protection"

The other man couldn't reply.

"My sources have told me that he has sent many agents to instigate the people. And you can see that one of the smaller towns has begun to form their own defense force because the police couldn't handle the security there. It will be very easy to cause the security force and the police to clash"

"You know about the towns?"

"Yes"

"Then tell me. What should I do? I can't just leave the politicians unprotected; the Orochi will also gain influence if we let him kill them"

"But in return, you will be protecting the people. If you're really afraid about the corrupted officials' lives, just tell them to issue statements that they will rather die rather than let people's safety be jeopardized. Orochi will less likely kill those who made the comments because killing them will make them martyrs"

"They wouldn't make such statements. They care more about their own lives than the people"

"Let them choose whether they want to do it or not. But regardless of their choice, you should not assign police to protect them anymore"

"I need to think about it"

"Up to you" Aoshi turned to leave the room when Yamagata stopped him.

"How did you find out what he was up to?"

"I didn't" Aoshi opened the door and gave a brief look at the man behind him. "It was one of the retaliatory plans the Tokugawa Shogun thought of when it became obvious that he would lose the Restoration War"

"But our spies didn't report anything on that"

"Of course. Only the Shogun and I knew about it" Aoshi closed the door behind him.

1

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**Author's note (19**** August**** 2005)**

1) Ah. Now we have a madman trying to take over Japan, a mad and angry Kenshin and a mad and psychotic Kaoru. I believe this is the first time (maybe, but hey, I'm just making an unproven comment) in RK fanfiction history we have three madmen, emm, madperson. Expect another one before I'm through.

2) Despite my limited time, I'm ensuring that I do my best in my story. That's why you have complicated story. Sometimes, I really wanted to ,"Oh well, let's throw in a villain and have Kenshin leaving Kaoru. Then Kaoru become crazy and then (spoiler...spoiler...spoiler...) without full explanation of why such things happen", but I wouldn't get my personal satisfaction from it. Admittedly, sometimes I wince when I click on the document submit button because I know it seems well, not that good. But the chapters were necessary. There are many times that I just wanted to stop the story and just write the final fight scene. But... oh well. I'll contend myself with knowing that success is the journey, not the destination.

3) My country will be having its National Day on 31st of August 2005. Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! In English, it means 'freedom'

Star0704 ---> Emm... That makes the two of us, earlier on. I don't know what it's going to be earlier on, but after two years of running the idea in my head, (or maybe 3) the end is finally visible.

Kuroi-san ---> :-D Notice the smile. It's a bit strained, right? I really want to finish this by the end of autumn (thus the title) but in any case, I'll promise that I'll finish it (by hook or crook)

Crewel ---> Gomen. More interactions are in the pipeline, but not that soon. Well, as you can see from above, they were apart from each other. Expect a few more chapters of absence. And you'll probably see 'subdued' interractions between Sanosuke and Megumi, because I'm trying to follow how Japanese interract a bit (they tend to beat around the bush a bit, so if you reread Megumi's comment, I assure you that its meaning is deeper than what was said).

TearsOfInfinity ---> I prefer to think about it more positively. My story is more exclusive, hence only select few are reading and leaving the comments. :-p. About me stopping, don't worry. I assure you that at the very least, chapter 26 will be posted before I quit, along with the cliffhanger, making you wonder about (spoiler...spoiler...spoiler...) and how(spoiler...spoiler...spoiler...)

Lolopopoki ---> You're welcome. And I hope this chapter explains about Kenshin's behavior.

Flaming-amber ---> Great minds think alike, no?

Hanabira ---> I'll update as soon as I'm able. As for Kenshin's head, I have to disappoint you as Orochi will probably get to him first. Then we have Saitou, or not. Then we have em, you. Somehow, when I reviewed this chapter, I'm being reminded of Kira Yamato of Gundam Seed. Strange.

_This chapter was beta read by fujifunmum_


	23. Chapter 22

**_Suenagaku na Aki_** (Ever stay autumn)

Chapter 22

Maekawa looked at the aspiring boy in front of him. "Send my regards to your teacher, Yahiko-kun"

"I will"

"Don't forget to practice"

"Yeah, like Busu will let me slack off" Yahiko bowed at Maekawa who bowed back. "I'll have to get going now"

Yahiko walked out of the Maekawa dojo. Once he exited the gate of its compound, he quickly sprinted home. Actually, he didn't want to go to the Maekawa dojo to train, but Kaoru insisted that he go, saying that he had to go in her place. And once he was there, he couldn't leave the dojo earlier than he expected as Maekawa asked for his help to train some new students. He couldn't refuse without making the dojo owner feel a bit suspicious. Now that he had finally finished his training, he didn't want to waste anytime returning back to the dojo. He was afraid for Kaoru being left alone, especially since Megumi and Misao had to go somewhere else. And with her current state, Yahiko wouldn't to let her out of his sight.

He was so lost in thought that he only became aware his surroundings when the back of his head hit something hard. He quickly looked around him to find he was lying on the ground, facing up. Yahiko got up and sat, while rubbing the back of his head absently. He saw a pair of shapely legs.

"That's right. Just feast your eyes on them. First you bump into me, and now you take the opportunity to sneak a look," a woman's voice taunted. "What is happening to our society today? Young kids are growing up perverts"

"HEY! I'm not a kid. And I'm not a pervert, whatever that means," Yahiko protested. He raised his head to see a woman sporting short hair, shorter than Tsubame's. Despite the slight resemblance, the woman was older and had a mischievous look in her eyes.

"Come on, Nabiki, couldn't you see that it's an accident? And you're the one who was running, so we can say that it's your fault" Yahiko looked to see another woman giving him a hand. The second woman looked as old as the first one, and had long raven hair, with the end tied by a ribbon. Yahiko guessed that their age were wasclose to Kaoru's. "My name is Shizuka, this is my sister, Nabiki. What's yours?"

Yahiko stood out without accepting her hand. "Yahiko" He dusted his clothes. "Myoujin Yahiko"

"A nice name for a young man like you," Shizuka remarked.

"Yeah, if you were not so perverted, I would say that you have a warriors' name. And I suppose I have to apologize for bumping into you" Nabiki said while smirking, looking at her sister. "Or else my sister here will kill me with her nagging.

Yahiko looked at Shizuka and felt that she was not the type to nag. In fact, her serene face didn't even look menacing at all. Despite being young, he was willing to go out on a limb to say that the woman is the type that could stay calm even in a crisis, just like Megumi. "Thank you for your compliment and your apology is accepted" He turned around, trying to locate the quickest route to the dojo.

"We have wronged you," Shizuka said. "Please, let us make it up to you" Shizuka pointed in a direction. "Why don't we go to the restaurant over there? We'll treat you to lunch as a sign of apology"

"Lunch? Sorry, but I have to go" Yahiko began to walk away when he felt the back of his gi being pulled.

"At least tell us why you don't forgive us"

Yahiko whirled around. "Listen. I forgive you. Now I have to go home"

Shizuka bowed. "Everyone knows that not accepting any apology offering means you don't forgive the guilty party"

"Yeah. Don't you know society etiquette?" Nabiki continued.

"I know about that! But I've to go back before she…"

Nabiki smirked. "She? A girlfriend? At your age? What about her?"

"No, my …sister" Yahiko turned once more. "Look. I appreciate your gesture. But I really have to get going. These few days have been a hectic period, and I don't have time to rest or play around" He wanted to sprint when Shizuka's word stopped him.

"Even in the middle of a life threatening sword fight, there will be a moment of peace and tranquility"

He turned. "Who… who said that? It sounds familiar"

"My husband. He fought in the restoration war"

"Oh"

"Now, from the way you turned out, I can see that your sister has been a very responsible and good sister"

"Yeah"

"She will understand if you get home a bit late. I should know, as I have a brother"

Nabiki smiled. "And I have a sister"

'_Yeah. Like I trust her to be left alone. Wait a minute… something's strange here' _"The two of you have a brother or a sister?"

The question caught Shizuka off guard who turned to Nabiki who put her hand on her head, as if regretting her words.

"Well?"

Nabiki sighed. "It shames me to say this, but our brother is a cross dresser. With the way he acts, I consider him a girl"

Yahiko shivered as an image of Kamatari came to mind. "Okay, I understand about it, but…"

"Nothing will happen" Nabiki said suddenly, her expression mysterious. "I can promise you that"

"Huh?"

"You worry about her, that's why you wanted to get home as fast as possible. But don't worry, she will be there"

Despite the suspicious way Nabiki talked, Yahiko felt that he could trust the two women, but his previous life as a pick pocket taught him to be very careful around strangers. "How come you're so sure? You know her?"

Shizuka gave an assuring smile. "No, we don't. But you needed to hear that, didn't you? To hear that all's well, even thought it is a lie"

Nabiki nodded solemnly. "Your face showed as much". Then, in an instant, her demeanor changed and she snickered. "You can object to our invitation as much as you want but," she pointed to his stomach, "your stomach betrays you"

The young boy's shoulder slumped in defeat as his stomach growled.

* * *

"Thank you for the meal," Yahiko said in gratitude. 

"No, it's our honor," Shizuka said as she handed him a food container. "And here's some more to bring home. It should be more than enough"

Yahiko shook his head. "But I can't accept this"

"Please, we insist," Shizuka said while shoving it into his reluctant hands while Nabiki watched quietly, her head propped on her elbow.

"Very well. I can't thank you enough for all you've done," Yahiko said. "But, it's getting late" He bowed.

"Wait, I have another thing to give to you" Shizuka said while handing a packet to him.

Yahiko looked at the packet. "And this is?"

"A very special tea for your sister. She will surely thank you if you prepare it for her"

The boy looked at her and looked at the packet back, smiling. "I will. Thank you very much once again" He bowed and left the two women, intent on getting home as soon as possible.

* * *

"Tadaima," Yahiko said as he opened the main gate. But no one answered him. Trying to dispel any negative thought, he closed the door slowly. He walked into the main compound of the dojo while looking for anyone. Failing to find anyone, he tried to use his ki sensing skill, but fail to detect any presence. He thought about the possibilities. Either no one was around, or he hadn't fully mastered the ki sensing. Yahiko wouldn't accept the later as it would justify what Kaoru said about him only practicing developing his physical skills. 

Then, an unpleasant thought took seed. Wanting to disprove it, he ran to the dojo and opened it. It was empty. He heaved a sigh of relief and then ran toward Kaoru's room. It was also empty.

"Where could she be?" he muttered.

Then a hand on his shoulder caused adrenalin to rush inside him, propelling him to take the bokken behind his back, turn his body and jump back while slashing defensively.

"Your reaction is not bad, Yahiko," Kaoru said softly, her face expressionless.

"Kaoru!" Yahiko exclaimed, smiling. He managed to restrain himself from hugging her.

"Welcome home. How was the training?"

"Fine" Yahiko felt something. "Wait here" he rushed past her. Yahiko arrived at the front porch to see Megumi closing the gate.

"Where's Kaoru?" Megumi asked.

"She's inside"

"Good" Megumi wiped a sweat off her forehead. "It was a very hectic day. I wish I had something to drink"

Yahiko remembered the packet of tea he brought home. "Well, why don't you join Kaoru in the main room and I'll prepare something for you"

Megumi looked at him skeptically but complied quietly.

A few minutes later, Yahiko brought a tray containing tea set and put it in front of Kaoru and Megumi.

Megumi giggled. "I can't wait to tell this to Sano. He would love to hear about you serving us tea"

"You will tell him nothing!" Yahiko said, gritting his teeth. He then turned toward Kaoru who hold a cup near her face. The young boy saw her eyes slightly widened. "What's wrong?"

Kaoru looked at him. "My parents and I always drank this tea when they were alive" Her eyes became a bit downcast. "How did you know that I like this particular kind of tea?"

"I didn't. Someone gave it to me." Yahiko scratched his head, "as an of apology for knocking me down"

"I see" Kaoru closed her eyes and took a sip before putting her cup down.

"How is it?"

"It tastes great" Kaoru gave a small smile.

The smile was small and brief, but it was the first genuine smile Yahiko had seen since Kenshin's departure. That smile from her gave him hope that she would recover. As he basked in the glow of her smile, a nagging thought occurred to him. He was supposed to ask her something to do regarding her and Megumi, something about finding Megumi easily compared to her. But for the life of him, he couldn't remember what it was.

* * *

The two women watched as he walked further and further away from them. Finally, Shizuka spoke. "Is this all that we can do? Giving tea to calm her nerves? Isn't there anything else that we can do?" 

Nabiki crossed her arms. "Our direct intervention is not desired. But, like the time you meet Kenshin in his dream, it will help. But the rest is up to them"

"But I wanted to do more"

"But you can't, because their destiny, however sad it may be, will be forged by their own hands. You should know that, as you also made such an important choice, Shizuka" Nabiki smiled, "or should I say, Kiyosato Tomoe"

Tomoe nodded.

"Let's go back to the spirit world. Akira would become worried if you don't return now" Nabiki said.

* * *

a

* * *

**Author's note (21 September**** 2005)**

1) This chapter is for those K&T fans who wandered into this fiction. I know that this is not a K&T fiction, but I would like to thank you for reading it.

2) Please don't forget to pray for the Katrina tragedy victims in particular and the world in general. By definition of pray, either you pray the way you know how, or for others, just think about them for a moment. I know, that sounds so religous of me, but I admit I'm not really a religous person.

3) Let me tell you, the above chapter is a bit of cross over. The character that was with Tomoe, do anyone have any idea who she is and from where? She'll be in my other fanfiction.

Crewel --> Thank you for reading about the S&M interaction here. I admit, this will never top those fine SM writers out there, but at least I can contribute a little to SM

TearsOfInfinity --> Denial is one of many methods people use when they feel pain, right? It's there in psychology field.

A lilmatchgirl --> I wanted to have Kenshin that's a bit selfish. But then again, if you hurt people that care about you (by running to Kyoto for example), aren't you being a bit selfish? Sure. You want to save people you care, but isn't that's because you're afraid that you will be hurt if something happen to them? So, that's a bit selfish (well, in my twisted defintion anyway) So all in all we human are selfish.

gabyhyatt --> You too ;-D

onime no kyo --> I'm throwing some more ingredients and spices into my cauldron of ideas

lolo popoki --> Glad you like it. Let's see how it turnes out. I'm going to use some ideas from my other fanfictions.

Hanabira --> That's bit hard, as Sano's powerful but a bit slow. Maybe Saitoh is more up to speed. If he's interested. Anyway, Kenshin warned him, right?

_This chapter was checked by Fujifunmum_

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	24. Chapter 23

**DISCLAIMER. **

**All rights to Rurouni Kenshin series belong to Nobuhiro Watsuki, Shounen Jump, Sony and Anime Works. Ranma and Gundam Seed belongs to their respective owners**

**The above general disclaimer applies to this page and all subsequent pages that follow this page, associatively, chronologically, spatially or by any other associations**

**

* * *

**

**Suegaku Na Aki**

**Chapter 23**

Orochi and another man stood near a crowd of people who gathered to listen to a public address by a politician. A few police officers nearby watched the gathering warily. As the politician ranted on how he was sacrificing a lot to help the ungrateful people he represented, Orochi made a comment to his companion "It seems that the Meiji government has realized our intentions, what do you think, Meikira?"

The man named Meikira shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. "Right, but I suppose you knew that this will happen, old man"

The other man only smiled. "That is correct. However, the timing is a bit too soon"

"And you also have a backup plan to that"

"My thanks to you for helping me prepare"

"No problem"

They turned their attention to the crowd as there was a commotion. A man brazenly insulted the politician who was making the speech, telling him that he was a crook.

"And why are you making such a wild accusation?" the politician retorted. Nearby, a few policemen were beginning to make their way to the protester.

"You took my farm by force and built an illegal gambling den. And now you're saying that you're breaking your bones to serve us. What crap is that!"

A few murmurs could be heard from the crowd. The politician noticed them and nearly panicked. "Ladies and gentlemen, surely you can see this man is lying?"

"Oh? I'm lying? Then how do you explain about where you get the money to enlarge you house then? A long lost uncle inheritance?"

"Yes, in a way. My uncle Guruma left quite a tidy sum in his will"

"Ah. Gomen. Silly of me. I didn't know that pigs could write wills"

The politician hopped off the stage and walked toward the man. "Let me hear you say that again"

"Fine. I didn't know that pigs could write wills"

Everyone nearby looked with interest at the two as they exchanged insults and barbed comments, including Orochi and Meikira.

"You have found a good actor, Meikira"

"Yeah. Pretty natural too. And he's willing to work for us for peanuts"

"Peanuts?"

"An expression I heard from the foreigners. He was angry with the Meiji government. But the best thing I like about him is that he could easily manipulate the crowd's emotions"

Orochi glanced at the crowd to see that hostility began to show on some of the people's face. "Getting the crowd to form a mob is a good plan"

More and more dissatisfaction began to show as the protester talked about the alleged corruption.

"Then getting them to attack the police and create an uprising here will be easier. You have done well, Meikira"

"Hey. I learn from the master himself" Meikira performed a small bow. "And, of course, not to mention my teacher who was killed by Aoshi" He snickered. "I always told him that's he was too old but he wouldn't listen, working with that Enishi. In the end, his career went up in smoke. Another one of the foreigner's sayings"

"You know a lot of the foreigners' language"

"Yes. In France and Britain, I'm known as the Asian Marionette. Now, you'll see the pinnacle of my puppet show" He snapped his finger.

A shot rang up and the politician fell down like a rag doll. A wave of silent horror swept throughout the area. Then a woman's scream broke the spell. Instantly, panic ensued as everyone ran to save themselves. Meanwhile, the police force was doing its best to keep the chaos to a minimum, trying to ensure an orderly dispersal. Nevertheless, a few people got trampled by the fleeing crowd. Another shot rang out and the crowd became wilder and more people got injured. Meanwhile, Orochi and Meikira had moved to a roof top, watching the commotion.

"Can you tell me what are you doing?" Orochi asked. "Why did you kill the politician? Surely this will cause the crowd to panic"

Meikira shook his head in disbelief. "It was not supposed to happen this way"

"Oh? Then what was supposed to happen? We were supposed to shoot our man instead?"

Meikira looked at his leader for a moment until realization sunk into him. Orochi thought that the man who opposed the politician was the one working for them. "Let me explain. The politician, not the agitator is the one who's working with us. And he's supposed to provoke the agitator into a fight with him, that's all. And that in turn will cause a riot by the people, forcing the police to subdue them"

"I see. And where is the assassination part is supposed to fit in?"

"No where. As you already know, killing him will do us no good"

Orochi shifted his attention to the surrounding buildings. "So, it is the Meiji government's plan to counteract our own. Interesting. I never thought they would resort to this" A flash at a distance caught his attention. He moved his head. At the same time another shot could be heard.

Meikira looked at the spot where the sound originated. He almost rushed to the spot when he stopped. "Are you okay, old man?"

"Let me assure you, I am only 35 years old. As for my safety, you can see that I am all right"

"Should we go after the sniper? I think we can easily catch up with him. I can imagine the joy I'll get from torturing information out of him"

"No" Orochi answered. "We have to return to our headquarters now. This new development is something that we need to consider before proceeding with our plan"

* * *

Yamagata stood beside Aoshi while looking at the map of Japan. "I've carried out what you suggested" 

"Very good. Now proceed with the surveillance"

The general of the Japanese Imperial army felt annoyed at the curt response, but kept quiet. However, his assistant couldn't stop from protesting.

"You're acting as if we are your errand boys, telling us to do your bidding. Who do you think you are?" Sageru demanded.

Aoshi ignored him and said to Yamagata while pointing to a spot on the map, "It would be advantageous for us to move some of the police force in this area to other places to bolster their numbers"

Yamagata was shocked at the suggestion. "Are you MAD? We have just killed one of our people there and now you want us to reduce the number of police officers there! What will people think!"

"Correction, Yamagata-san, he was one of the Orochi's men" Aoshi took out an envelope from his jacket. "Here is the proof"

Yamagata took it and examined its content. When he finished, he look at Aoshi. "Why didn't you give me this earlier? It could have made my task of convincing the others a lot easier"

"I need some evidence that you trust me"

"This is not a matter of trust!"

"It is. We need to trust each other in order to work together. I appreciate what you did for me"

Yamagata could only nod.

"As for the district, I'm sure that Orochi wouldn't attack it"

"Yes. I understand" Sageru answered. "To do so would cause the people in other places to support us. Although what we did is quite dirty, it served its purposes. And for the people there, we can take steps like assigning one instead of three police officers to a patrol, while increasing the frequency of patrols to give an impression that we have increased our manpower there"

"It wouldn't fool Orochi, but would make the people there feel safe," Aoshi concurred.

"Now, what should we do?" Yamagata asked.

Aoshi turned toward the two. "We have to wait until our enemy makes his move"

* * *

A day after that, in Orochi's headquarters, he was also looking at a map of Japan. Then the door opened and his followers, along with Neuwindst entered. "Welcome to the meeting. I am sorry for calling forth this emergency meeting" he said. 

"We've heard about the shooting," Neuwindst answered. "Never thought the Meiji will grow some spine and do such a thing"

"I admit I find this new development a bit disturbing, the current government is not as naïve as we thought" Orochi said. "They are willing to do everything to achieve their objectives"

"Feh, like that is something new" Shingo said.

"So what should we do?" Yuri asked.

Orochi smiled. "Why, take advantage of the current situation, of course. Remember Saigo Takamori's revolt?"

"Can't say I do" Neuwindst replied. "Care to enlighten me?"

"For your information," Shingo said, "Three years ago, a prominent samurai named Saigo Takamori wanted the government to preserve the samurai status. As you know, the samurais are full time warriors, and are not needed in the peace that the Meiji government advocates. So he wanted the government to send them to Korea and China to conquer some lands, thus improving their reputation and influence"

"And the government policy makers, not being half assed idiots all the time sensed Takamori's intention and refused. Then Takamori got pissed off and got his men to attack the government. And both sides got hurt pretty badly" Meikira continued.

"During the revolt, we had a chance to seize power, but due to some unforeseeable circumstances, we were unable to do so" Orochi said. "According to my previous calculation, the opportunity to topple the Meiji government will present itself in three months' time. But now, due to an unexpected move made by them, the general population will be in a state of fear"

Meikira crossed his arms. "And the government gets to play the role of the protector of the people. And the people will be very hesitant to voice their discontent against the government. So, our plan to cause a popular uprising against it has failed"

"True," Orochi admitted. "But to play the role of the protector, they will need to take steps to increase the sense of security, such as increasing the number patrols or the number of policemen on duty. They win the psychological war, but at the cost of straining their security forces. With proper planning, I believe that we can seize control of the country within a week"

Murmurs and questioning sounds echoed throughout the room.

"A week! That's way beyond me," Neuwindst remarked.

Meikira grinned. "I think I got understandwhat you're planning. Since the police force wouldn't want to protect the politicians, you want us to kill them, inducing more fear and forcing them to use more of their personnel and resources on protecting the people"

"The killing will not be done by us, but the other ninjas under our pay or those opposing the Meiji. But they will need some weapons"

Neuwindst shook his head. "Oh, no. I don't think my people can work that fast. We're still finishing your order of weapons. You'll get them in two or three days, no problem. But for theirs, I'll need another two weeks"

Orochi nodded. "I have had anticipated that. That is why we will get them from the military's weapon warehouse not far from Tokyo tonight at midnight" He turned toward Yuri.

Yuri bowed. "I'll carry out the mission"

"No. Shingo and Neuwindst will do it"

Disappointment was evident in the female ninja's eyes.

"You, Meikira and Ryo, along with your squad, will lay a siege to a fortified military outpost 50 miles from the warehouse. I need all of you to keep it under attack for at least two hours so that the military will send backup from the warehouse. It will make Shingo and Neuwindst's job easier"

Yuri was shocked by the order. It was apparent that Orochi still believed in her abilities, asking her to carry out a task some people would have said as impossible, as the place would be heavily guarded. She looked at Meikira and Ryo. Meikira, dubbed as the 'Puppeteer from hell' was a master of mechanical contraptions. Together with Neuwindst's cooperation, he had just completed a new contraption. It was probable that it would be used in the mission. Ryo, Asuka's teacher was unequalled in close combat. She smiled. Impossible was a word to use around the two of them. "I understand, Orochi-sama"

* * *

1 

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* * *

**

**Author's note** (1 October 2005)

1) Well, with the publishing of this chapter,it marks the end of the second phase of my story. So, the story is COMPLETE! Thank you! BYE!

Okay, the story is not finished. But this chapter marks the corner stone where there's no turning back. Barring any problems and accidents, I will write to the finish. It's been going on and off for two years, sometimes I thought of stopping, but well, with this chapter,chickening out is out of question, not unless I want my conscience to haunt me. I'm posting this from a Starbucks (Which is for me a kind of a celebration by itself as I don't frequent that place so much).

2)When I started, I was a bored kid (ha! a twenty three years old) with nothing to do. Funny how much time passed. Now I'm a twenty five man with no life and nothing else to do. I was aiming for 50,000 words. But I'm halfway done and I have passed the 50,000 marks!

3) I checked the stats and I calculated around 60-70 people read my story. That's good enough. I know my story is a bit lengthy and not much into action, but although I write for you, I also write for myself. I thank you for your patience (or impatience)

4)There's a question I would like to ask for you who will review this chapter (but don't feel forced to answer). Would you prefer Kaoru kill or not? I haven't written any thing on that one, so you answer the question, it will somehow affect the story a bit.

5) I would like to thank these people who has supported my work  
:fujifunmum (being my editor, you can say she's my cowriter, rewriting _sooooo_ many errors. And yet I still make more. :D)  
ranma15177301291  
keikoJ dog The Fic Critic  
Annabella5  
Geminidragon  
Shandrial  
WriterNotViking  
kitiarauthmatar  
funkmasterGT  
Xenogenesis  
Miguela  
Nekotsuki  
misenagi  
kik-ting  
bewarethemel  
lolo popoki  
star0704  
kuroi  
Crewel  
TearsOfInfinity  
flaming-amber  
Hanabira  
A lilmatchgirl  
gabyhyatt  
onime no kyo

(Am I missing someone here? If so, please tell me and I will put yours in the next chapter, that will be more exclusive. This offer is only to those who has reviewed before. Not to worry, as long as there's less than 100 reviewers, I'll put in you name later, probably in phase 3)

**And all of you readers of this story**. (Fanfiction gave me a bit of stats info, so I know you're there)

A lilmatchgirl -- I wondered whether I was in la-la land when I saw your comment. I rechecked and rechecked and felt something was amiss. But then I remembered typing more than that. I managed to delete it somehow. Sorry about that. But really, I meant the reply for you.

Crewel -- Well, I believe, we even have a bit of Aoshi/Misao and Orochi/Yuri. Ah, the beauty of having an aimless story with that built up slowly. In fact, I'm already considering writing another story that cut to the chase, but it wouldn't be this one.

lolo popoki -- glad you like it. I wanted Tomoe to appear at a very crucial moment **later**, but I somehow managed to come up with a better idea to replace that part. Although that seems like demoting her, but that part was inspired from an anime; this chapter is not (at least as far as I can remember. If there's a similarity with another story out there, it's a coincidence)

Hanabira -- Well, to tickle your imagination a bit, her fiance's name is Akira Kiyosato. So, what do you think happened _up_ there? ;-)

_  
This chapter was preread by fujifunmum_


	25. Chapter 24

**Suenagaku na Aki**

**Chapter 24 **

"Oi, Kenshin! Look at that smoke!" Sanosuke called out from the top of the carriage.

Kenshin looked out of the carriage toward their destination. Even though it was nearly midnight, the rising smoke could be seen clearly.

"I don't think the base is in good shape," Aoshi remarked, without looking out of the window.

"How can you sound so calm about it?" Sanosuke growled. "People are being killed even as we speak"

"Unfortunately, that is true" Aoshi answered as he eyed the ex-hitokiri next to him tightening his grip on the sakabatou while gritting his teeth. To him, it seemed as if Himura next to him had changed. He briefly wondered why. "Sagara, a shinobi has maintain his cool at all times, failing which that he should maintain a calm façade"

"Heh. You didn't look so calm like the last time you fought Kenshin"

"Aa. That's why I lost easily. Himura can tell you about the importance of not going to battle in anger, na, Himura?"

Kenshin tensed as Aoshi's subtle reminder irked him. After a while, he managed to control himself. "He's right, Sano," he said slowly.

"Yeah. Yeah" Sano grumbled. He then tapped the carriage driver. "Could you get more horsepower out of them?" he said while pointing to the horses pulling the carriage.

"We're nearly there," the driver replied. "Please be patient"

"Che! Even you tell me what to do" Sano muttered. Then whistling sounds made him look skyward. Three flares, each one of them red, green and blue in color, illuminated the sky. "What the…"

"An Oniwabanshuu's method to signal for a complete withdrawal," Aoshi remarked. "Yuri's leading the attack"

* * *

"What are you saying!" Meikira asked using something that resembled a primitive megaphone. "We are winning here. And the reinforcements from the ammunition dump haven't arrived yet"

"Our advanced scout spotted a horse carriage coming here at full speed" Yuri shouted toward the huge contraption towering over her.

"So? That's nothing to be scared of"

"The coach carries Battousai, Shinomori and Sagara. It's obvious that the army wouldn't be sending any reinforcements from the depot"

"Shinomori…is in the coach…," Meikira said to himself inside the cockpit of the contraption. "This is my lucky day, right, Gein?" he said to a small doll resembling his teacher. "Today is when I will surpass you, like you always wanted" He grinned maniacally. He then pressed a button to activate a megaphone. "Retreat like the coward you are if you want. I'm staying here"

Upon hearing the response, Yuri became angry. Before she could say something, Ryo came to her.

"So, Yuri, what should we do? The carriage is estimated to arrive in less than five minutes"

"We'll withdraw from the battle, but will maintain surveillance of the battlefield. Our attack has failed to trick the enemy, so continuing it would be useless" She shook her head. "Let's hope Shingo and that golden haired foreigner aren't also having problems"

* * *

The carriage stopped in front of the base. The driver turned toward the passengers inside the carriage. "We're here, sir"

Sano pulled the man by his collar and threw him off. As the man landed roughly on the ground, he could hear a loud crash. He turned toward the carriage to see that it had been completely destroyed by a very large sword. Fortunately his three passengers managed to escape unharmed. Then his vision blurred as he passed out.

"Sano, make sure the man is all right," Kenshin said

"Don't worry. He's only out for a nap. Maybe you should worry about that big puppet with that big sword coming your way"

Kenshin jumped out of harm's way.

Inside the giant puppet, Meikira was livid with anger. "Don't look down on my creation" He pulled some strings and pushed some levers. The puppet slashed again.

Kenshin, Aoshi and Sanosuke evaded the attack. They waited for it to make its move, but it didn't. Then its head opened to reveal a somber Meikira.

"Good evening, gentlemen. You may be wondering the name of this work of art"

"Actually, I was thinking about who created such an ugly thing," Sano quipped. "I can see where it inherited its ugliness"

Meikira sneered. "You are jealous that everyone is cooler looking than you"

"Che. Like I care"

"Well, as I was saying, this lovely art' work's name is Elizabeth"

"Who cares?"

Meikira pointed to Aoshi, "You have bested Gein, that old and senile fool.   
But unfortunately Elizabeth and I will show you the true power of combat dolls. Don't blink, or you might miss your final moment" Meikira's cockpit closed. Then it pulled giant kunais from a compartment at its side. Then it launched it toward the three warriors.

Kenshin, Sano and Aoshi evaded the kunais.

"Careful. The kunais could be a trap!" Aoshi shouted

True enough, the kunais exploded upon contact with the ground. It was a good thing that the three of them were far away from the blast area.

Meikira slammed the controls in front of him in frustration. "Well, you haven't seen anything yet!" he shouted and the puppet's head turned to follow them. Then the Gardner machineguns fitted on it fired. A bullet managed to graze Sano's shoulder. The puppet controller then turned to search for Aoshi. "Ah. There you are" A rocket was fired at the place where Aoshi was expected to land.

_Despite the darkness they were in, the boy looked at the blonde girl and smiled. It was the first time he had seen a foreigner up close. "Hello. Do you understand Japanese?"_

_The girl looked at him warily for a few minutes before nodding._

"_My name is Meikira. What's yours?"_

"_Elizabeth"_

"_E-ri-za-be-to"_

"_No. no. no." she said, pouting, "E-li-za-beth"_

"_Eli-za-beth" Meikira extended his hand. "Would you like to be my friend?"_

_Elizabeth smiled and took his hand. "I would love to"_

_

* * *

_

Ryo watched the battle from his hideout with awe as Aoshi barely escaped from the rocket. "How can he fight those three guys simultaneously?"

"It's his talent and skill," Yuri answered. "He told me that when he was small, he was forced to control multiple string puppets at the same time, without making even a single mistake on their movements. He's able to track them simultaneously, decide and act accordingly"

"But the three of them are not his puppets"

"True. But look at how he's manipulating them into moving to where he wants them to go"

Ryo looked as Aoshi and Sanosuke had landed near each other. Meikira's puppet fired two rockets to their sides, forcing them not to move, while another rocket was launched toward the two of them. Multiple explosions ensued. "He got them!"

* * *

"Nice one, Kenshin," Sano breathed. "He nearly got us that time" Kenshin's quick action of throwing his sakabatou's sheath toward at the third rocket caused it to explode in the air.

"Scatter!" Kenshin shouted, as the three of them moved away from the bullets heading towards them

"Sagara, Himura! Move in a random pattern," Aoshi said.

"Easy for you to say," Sano replied as he evaded the puppet's attempt to squash him.

"He's right," Kenshin said while changing his movements. "The puppet's controller is predicting our movements. If we move in unpredictable patterns, he can't follow us"

"That's what you think, Battousai," Meikira called out from his cockpit. "Like I told you, you haven't seen what this thing can do" He flipped a switch. "Consider this show of prowess as your dying gift" Then to the astonishment of everyone in the area, the puppet jumped.

"Masaka…" Sano exclaimed. Then his surprised turned to alarm when he saw the puppet pull more kunais. "Shit!"

* * *

"He's in trouble," Yuri said as the kunais exploded again.

"What, that rooster? Of course he's having problems"

"No. I meant Meikira"

"Why? I don't see any problem. In fact, he's keeping them pinned down"

"He has around 500 bullets, 7 exploding kunais, 3 smoke bombs and 11 rockets left"

"That's still a lot," Ryo said.

Yuri watched as the battle raged on. "More than 300 bullets, 4 exploding kunais, 0 smoke bombs and 6 rockets left" She sighed. "He's good in battle, but is reckless with his ammunition"

* * *

"_Elizabeth" the still young Meikira called out to the girl next to him_

"_Hmm?" _

"_I… um… I like you… I think you're beautiful"_

_Elizabeth giggled. "You're saying that because we're the only people inside this prison"_

"_NO! I promise you that I will never like other girls"_

_Elizabeth turned toward him. "Is that a promise?"_

"_Yes" He was surprised when she kissed him._

"_I like you too"_

Meikira finally managed to get Aoshi where he wanted. He has calculated the probability of the leader of the Oniwabanshuu escaping his current predicament. It was almost zero. "Sayonara," he said as he pressed the trigger.

Nothing happened. Meanwhile his prey took the opportunity to escape.

"What in the bloody hell is wrong with this thing!" he cursed while pressing the trigger again. Then he noticed a meter on his console. "Shit. I'm out of ammo. Guess I have to kill them by old fashion way"

The puppet pulled out two swords from its sides. Then it ran toward Aoshi. Then Meikira caught Sanosuke's approach via a mirror in his cockpit. He saw that the thing in Sano's hand and knew what it was. So when Sano threw it at his cockpit, he made the puppet swerve.

An explosion occurred behind the puppet, but Meikira was unconcerned. Then he heard a loud crashing sound and looked at its source. Sano was attacking his puppet's foot.

"Fool. A well made alloy can withstand shockwave based attack attacks" The puppet moved its foot, knocking Sano away. He then turned his attention toward Aoshi to see that his prey had disappeared from view. He quickly scanned around, seeing only Battousai and the street fighter Sagara. "Where could he be?"

To his shock, Aoshi appeared in front of his cockpit, twin kodachis fully sheathed. But despite the surprise, Meikira could maintain his calm as he knew that his cockpit was made from reinforced glass that would prevent Aoshi from attacking him. But the crash of the glass told him that his assessment was wrong. "BASTARD!"

Aoshi jumped away from the cockpit as the puppet's hand tried to hit him. Due to Meikira's rash decision, the hand crashed into the cockpit, showering him with glass fragments and injuring him.

On the ground, Sano marveled at Aoshi's move. "Wow. That's really smart, getting your enemy to hit himself"

* * *

"Shouldn't we help him?" Ryo asked.

"I'm not sure. Let's wait for a while," Yuri answered.

"What kind of person are you?"

"The kind that knows Meikira very well" she answered as she checked her weapons.

"What do you mean?"

* * *

Inside the cockpit, Meikira lowered his hand that covered his face from the glass. He saw red liquid oozing from it. Blood. The sight of it triggered a memory Meikira had wanted to forget.

"_No. Master. Don't do it," a small boy pleaded toward a man. _

"_I can do whatever I want," the man answered. "You're mine" He turned toward Elizabeth. "You're also mine"_

"_No" Elizabeth shook her head._

_The man took a step toward her. Scared for her safety, Meikira jumped and grabbed his foot. _

"_Che! Ungrateful bastard!" The man cursed while kicking Meikira in the face and smiled gleefully as the boy yelped in pain. "You see? You're no more than a puppet" His statement was met with a hateful stare from the boy. He kicked him again and again until Meikira became unconscious. Then the man grabbed Elizabeth by her hair and pulled her away._

"_Meikira!"_

"So, I have to surpass you, eh, Gein? I'll show you by defeating not one, but two of the most powerful swordsmen in Japan," Meikira whispered toward the doll which has fallen to the floor of the cockpit. He took out a key from his pocket and inserted it into a slot. He turned the key. The whole thing shuddered as the cockpit was covered with a shield, cutting him off from the outside world.

* * *

"What the…" Yuri exclaimed. "That's the berserker mode!"

"Huh?" Ryo asked. "The what?"

"We must leave"

"Why!"

"He's about to do something reckless. The bloodlust has probably taken him. That's why he covered the giant puppet's cockpit, so that no one can stop him" She gritted her teeth. "Not even Orochi-sama. Everyone, leave now, quickly!"

"But the Battousai and the others?" Ryo protested.

"We'll worry about them later, if we're still alive"

* * *

Inside the cockpit, Meikira licked the blood on his hand. Then he pressed and pulled some levers. The puppet kneeled and then it jumped. As it jumped, its feet began to glow as stream of hot exhaust gas escaped them. The puppet's feet had rockets installed inside them. The puppet's jump brought it up high in the air. The rockets kept it remaining at the same altitude.

"You will pay for this" He pressed again, and his puppet reached behind its back to pull two big cannons and aimed them at the ground below it. He made some mental calculation in his head. "Expected fatality : 120"

"_Master! Where is Elizabeth!" Meikira demanded._

"_Shut up" Gein said while pulling the chain connected to the boy's shackle. He led him to a room. "Now, as my apprentice, I feel obliged to give you your own doll"_

"_Really?" The boy asked hopefully._

_He was led to something covered with cloth. "Yes. I expect you to master controlling this puppet within a week," Gein said while pulling the cloth away._

"_NNOOOOOOOOOOO! ELIZABETH!"_

"How come Meikira seems normal to me?" Ryo asked.

* * *

Yuri turned her head toward him while still maintaining her sprint. "You know about Gein? The one killed by Shinomori tai… er… Shinomori of the Oniwabanshuu?"

"Yeah?"

"He took Meikira when he was small to become his pupil"

"I know about that, so?"

"Seems like Gein did something unforgivable to him" The female ninja glanced at the sky as Meikira's metal puppet adjusted its weapons. "And Meikira really… really… hates him"

"So, he should be happy that Shinomori killed him"

"To you, maybe, but to Meikira, he robbed him of his only chance for revenge" Yuri hesitated. "Despite the intense hatred toward Gein, Meikira really respected him. And, there is a very small line separating hatred and love"

* * *

Meikira adjusted the angle of the shot. "Expected radius of the blast : 1 kilometer" He looked at a gauge. "A few seconds more and the rocket fuel tank will be empty" He chuckled gleefully. "But that will be enough" The bolting mechanism at the arms holding the cannons started, making sure that the accuracy of the shot be affected by the recoil effect. "I hope Yuri and the others are well on their way. It would be very hard to explain their deaths to the boss" Wires from the cannons were being pulled by pulleys on the shoulders to keep the cannons steady as the final adjustments were being made. "But then again, I also won't be around to explain it to him"

_Gein looked at the gun and smiled. "What are you doing pointing this thing toward me?"_

"_I want to kill you for what you have done," Meikira answered._

"_You want to kill me for making you a powerful man?_

"_What you did toward to me was unforgivable!" Meikira shot Gein's left shoulder. Tears appeared in his eyes. You forced me to control her. YOU TURNED HER INTO A MERE PUPPET!"_

"_Aa… You liked the girl, didn't you?" Gein smiled. "A master of puppets must have that kind of attachment to the first puppet he controls, treating it as if it's a living thing"_

"_YOU!" Meikira's hands were shaking._

"_And you treated it as such, didn't you? That's why your control of puppets is lifelike" Gein grabbed the gun and guided it toward his heart. "Here, why don't you shoot me? You will feel regret after killing me, as you know that you haven't surpassed me yet. Is that what you want?"_

"I WILL SURPASS YOU AND KILL YOUR KILLER, YOU BASTARD!" He pressed the trigger. "I'LL KILL SHINOMORI IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO" The whole ground beneath him trembled as the puppet the fired continuously toward it. The barrage continued for a few seconds until he heard an explosion from behind him. He knew what it meant. But at least he had killed Shinomori and his friends. He closed his eyes and smiled. "Elizabeth…"

Meikira was consumed in flame as the puppet exploded in the middle of the air.

* * *

1

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**Crewel **--> Ah, thanks. I try my best to make it as good as I can because I know there will be someone else reading it

**shirainai** --> Well, I'm still learning to write. I wish I can make it longer though...

**TearsOfInfinity -->** Vote taken. But as for she becoming a seductress, well, I want to do that but someone already wrote about it. I wish I can remember who wrote about there. I think I read a few of them... Actually, I'm thinking of "Evil Kaoru", you know, like "Evil Ryu" from Street Fighter, the famous video game beat em up. Yup, that kind ( a bit)

**lolo popoki -->** And we have a tie. Oh well. I'm still unsure, but in my planning, Kaoru will fight a major battle (to make up for her being the lamb earlier on). Now... I'm still not sure about Kaoru. Maybe I can just flip a coin. That will be cool.

**Author's note : (24 October 2005)**

1) Ah well, I'm going off on a long vacation and maybe in that time I have an idea how to remove that one particular stumbling block to RKESA being finished. Yeah, just that one chapter... and the rest should be easier.

2) There's some slight change where I put the replies to review to before Author's note. I'm still not putting the reviews on top, because I want you, the readers to get to their story earlier on. I hope that should be okay with you people. Even my other story follows this arrangement because of the same reason

_  
This chapter was preread by fujifunmum_


	26. Chapter 25

Suenagaku na Aki

Kaoru opened the shoji slowly and quietly, and saw a sleeping form leaning against the wall. She shook her sadly, smiling. _'Yahiko, you can catch a cold if you sleep in the open like this,' _She scooped the boy and carried him toward his room, taking small steps so to prevent waking him. Kaoru knew that Yahiko was outside of Kenshin's room, waiting for her. She knew how to read ki, after all. She looked at the sleeping boy in her hands. _'He looks so cute while sleeping; I can't believe that this is the boy who bravely fought so many enemies'_

Finally Kaoru reached Yahiko's room. She put the sleeping boy on his futon and covered it. She was about to leave the room when she turned back and kissed Yahiko on his forehead. "Arigato, for looking out for me, Yahiko," she said softly. She then left the room.

She walked toward the front porch, the same place she liked to go whenever she waits for Kenshin to return from his household chores. But she didn't go there to wait for him; she simply wanted to sit and gaze into the morning sky, waiting for a new day to arrive. She watched the sky, letting herself to be captivated by the beauty of flaming red streaks crossing over it. The streaks reminded her of his hair. Kaoru let out a long breath. She must stop thinking about him; the violet hues in the sky should not remind her of his eyes.

The young woman knew that she would survive without Kenshin, but not without emotional scars. She will, as she also loved Yahiko very much and wouldn't want him to feel the loneliness that she had felt. It will be very hard, but she has to take a step toward the future without Kenshin beside her.

But, for the time being, she will contend her herself by remembering the ruroni's face. She needed to rest a bit before Yahiko wakes up. The young woman leaned on a nearby pillar, letting her rurouni's name rolled off her tongue with bittersweet feelings.

* * *

Orochi looked at Yuri and knew that something was wrong.

"Forgive me, Orochi-sama. We have failed in our attack"

Orochi let out a long breath. "The attack was repulsed?"

"No. But it failed to draw the army from depot"

He walked around his tent, hands behinds his back, deep in thought. "It cannot be helped that the enemy did not fall for our ruse. I was told that they have a new person in charge of their strategies"

"It's Shinomori, isn't it?" Yuri asked.

"Yes" Orochi shrugged. "I must admit, he is a very capable man. He is able to make tough decisions" He regarded Yuri. "You were under a good leader then, Yuri"

"Not as good as you, My Lord"

Orochi smiled at her. "Well, then. Where are Akira and Ryo?"

"Ryo's being treated for minor injuries" Yuri looked down on the floor. "Meikira didn't make it"

The man in front of her displayed a surprised look. "What happened?"

Precisely at that moment, a runner came running into the tent. "My Lord. Forgive me for interrupting, but Shingo's team has returned" the runner said, hyperventilating.

Orochi walked hurriedly out of the tent, stopping for a second to look at Yuri. "Yuri, you will tell me about it later. Come"

"Yes"

Orochi walked toward the newly arrived group. He gave them a look. "Where are your leaders?"

The group parted, showing an injured Neuwindst holding to one of his men's shoulder as a support to walk toward him.

"Dumkopft! Not too fast!" the arm maker croaked toward the man who supported him. "Do you want to kill me?"

"As lively as ever, Neuwindst," Orochi remarked. "Where is Shingo?"

Neuwindst gestured behind him, showing few men carrying a makeshift stretcher. Orochi rushed toward it to see a bloodied Shingo struggling to smile at him.

"Mission accomplished, Orochi-sama. We… have… enough… weapons"

"GET A DOCTOR HERE NOW," Orochi shouted. It was a rarity for him to lose him composure.

Yuri who was behind him was aghast by Shingo's condition. "Your injuries…"

"We had fierce resistance," Neuwindst said, still clutching to his subordinate. "They were waiting for us"

"Gomen. I have failed in my mission to lure them away," Yuri said sadly.

"The resistance wasn't that difficult to break. When we thought that we have won, they ambushed us"

Shingo tried to raise his hand to placate her but was told by a doctor who has just arrived to take it easy. He ignored him. "They… were… ready… for us" He smiled to Yuri "You probably faced heavy… resistance… too…"

Orochi kneeled beside the stretcher. "Take it easy, my friend. You have to rest while we treat your injuries"

Despite his condition, Shingo smiled again. "Ie. I… don't… have… much… time left" His voice became a whisper. "Forgive… me… I… lied… to you" Ignoring his pain, he brought out a blood stained envelope from his gi and gave it to Orochi who took it with a puzzled expression.

"What do you mean, Shingo?"

"I… didn't… want… you to become… distracted…"

Orochi held Shingo's hand.

"Gomen…" Shingo let out his final breath and slumped.

"Shingo…" Orochi closed the eyes of his trusted assistant. He then closed his eyes and remained in the kneeling position. Around him, everyone stood silently and solemnly. After a few minutes, he then stood up, turning toward Neuwindst. "How did this happen?"

The man looked down. "They have snipers in hiding around the woods. They only attacked while we were loading the weapons. At first, they shot me" He looked at his injuries sad. "Shingo… he protected me," he said softly, looking down. "It's supposed to be me. Sorry"

Orochi shook his head sadly. "It is something that he would do" He turned toward Shingo's body. "I want him buried next to my family" He then walked toward his tent. Yuri wanted to follow him but he held a hand, telling her that he wanted to be alone. Once he was inside the tent, he opened the envelope and read the letter.

_Orochi-sama,_

_If you read this letter, it meant that I have passed away before the completion of your glorious plan. I'm sorry that I can't be of any help for you anymore. The reason why I write this letter is to lessen my guilt toward you. You see, I've made a very unforgivable sin. I have lied to you. _

_During the Takamori's revolt, I was already there when our men were slaughtered by the mysterious swordsman that you wanted to meet so much. I have just arrived at that time and barely saw what happened. All I see is that our men were attacking him. Then it happened. The very large killing ki. I dropped to the ground and could watch as the rain of blood ensued. It was over in less than five seconds and all our men were dead. When I think of it, the reason I survived was because I was quite far from the battle. He must have thought that I wasn't one of them._

_That attack he executed. It was impossible! This may sound unbelievable, but during the fight, I saw the man had wings! Wings! When you asked me about our men's death afterwards, I don't know whether I should tell you or not because I myself found it impossible to believe. I thought that I had gone mad and imagined such thing. His movement was so fast that to normal people, he was simply flying past our men. But in reality, he attacked them many times without even slight hesitation. I had seen Battousai in action and even he had a very brief hesitation before killing his targets. _

_But the attack was without its weakness, however. The attack cost him his life, but I suppose he knew the consequences before hand. And kami help us if we're going to face that man. As you had said, he was formidable. I'm not looking down on your abilities, Orochi-sama, but I don't think that you will be able to battle him without being injured._

_From the battle, I found out the name of the attack. Hou'ou Zankaze (Phoenix Slashing Wind). Using the information, I searched day and night for any kind of any clues pertaining to this attack. I can't tell you about this as you will be very interested in finding information on the technique that you may forget about your plan against the Meiji bastards. Forgive me for keeping it from you, but I've been in your service for a long time; I know you your obsession for sword techniques._

_I finally found the name of the technique it belongs to, and what I found scared me. Yume no Shiyotaka Tsubasa. Yes, it is the legendary Graceful Wings of Dream._

_I believe that the man was its only master and don't think that you would encounter it. The wretched technique died with him. But, in case I am mistaken, the following is Yume no Shiyotaka Tsubasa's signature stance. The swordsman will point his sword downward toward a point three steps in front of him. His left hand will be at his side. The user will always adopt the stance before attacking; according to the limited information that I have, it has something to do with technique's main philosophy._

_I would like to seek your forgiveness once more, as I feel guilty in keeping this a secret from you._

_Shingo Yamazaki _

Orochi put down the letter, wiping a single drop of tear from his eye. Shingo was so loyal that he would do anything to prevent anything from disrupting Orochi's plan to conquer Japan, even Orochi himself. He thought about the content of the letter. Yes, like Shingo had predicted, he would like to know about one of the legendary sword techniques. He smiled. Hiten Mitsurugiryu, the powerful dragon. Wattoujutsu, the fierce tiger and Gen'ei Kagamiryu, the sly serpent. It would have been good to see the Yumo no Shiyotaka Tsubasa, the immortal phoenix in action. He sighed. Now only the powerful dragon and the sly serpent were fighting. The tiger has lost its fangs and the phoenix has lost its immortality. _'What a waste'_

Orochi left the tent. He looked at people waiting for him, as if they were expecting him to postpone the plan. He would have, but upon remembering Shingo's request he decided not to. Postponing the plan would make his loyal subordinate, no, his loyal friend sacrificed himself for nothing. No, it would proceed and it would succeed. He would make sure of that

* * *

Karl Neuwindst winced as one of his men changed his bandages. "Not too tight," he grunted. "The blood will not flow correctly"

"Sorry," the man answered. He continued bandaging his boss, humming.

"By the way, good shot back there"

"Which one?"

"The one that hit me, you idiot. Do you think that I care about Shingo?" Neuwindst thought a few seconds. "Well, considering he only died after we had reached here, you can say that they were good, too"

"Thank you. I'm your best marksman, after all. But I have few questions I have wanted to ask"

"Shoot" The scheming arm maker's face scrunched. "…wait…make that ask away"

"Why are we doing this?"

"To get their trust. My actual plan was to just save Shingo and become an instant hero"

"Why the change, then?"

"He will be an obstacle to what my plan. He's always suspicious of me"

"But you've done nothing wrong, at least not yet"

"And that's what ticked me off. How can I proceed with my own agenda if he's still around?"

"Ohh… Okay, I understand, I think" The marksman finished the knot on the bandage. "One last question"

"Remind me to cut your bonus. Ask"

"How can you predict that he will shield you from shots? You were taking a huge risk at that time"

Neuwindst smiled. "Because he's very loyal dog"

* * *

1

* * *

**Author's note ( 26 May 2006)**

1. Ah, the thrill of updating after a year hiatus. I'm sorry, but it seems that I was out of idea. Every now and then I will revisit this fic and feels annoyed as I was unable to finish it. Oh well, at least I can update few more chapters.


	27. Chapter 26

Suenagaku na Aki

Kenshin stood at the balcony of the Kyoto's military headquarters, looking at the rising sun. His sakabatou hung by his side. He hasn't said much since he returned from the fight, letting Aoshi report about the status of their mission. Since he didn't have anything to do, he brought out something from the fold of his gi. It was the ribbon given to him by Kaoru. Kenshin brought the ribbon close to his face. The lingering scent of Kaoru's hair was still there, despite the metallic smell from his dried up blood staining it. It was a reminder to him how he had shed his blood to protect the owner of that ribbon.

How he has changed. Or did he?

He held the ribbon close to his heart and closed his eyes. Did he do the right thing leaving her? Is it true that he didn't want to have anything to do with her? He opened his eyes and looked at it again. Despite telling Kaoru that he hated her, deep inside him, he still has feelings for the high spirited and beautiful kendoist. High spirited. He chuckled mirthlessly. He wondered whether she was affected by him leaving her. It couldn't be helped. In a way, he did it to protect her. His enemies were less likely to attack her if he didn't stay at the dojo.

Or was it to protect himself? To protect his sanity? Perhaps his motive was not as altruistic as it seemed. Maybe the real reason he wanted to leave her was because he didn't want to feel vulnerable, with her by his side. Maybe he was scared that he, not her, that would get hurt if anything happens. After all, it hurt him deep to the core when he accidentally killed Tomoe. If something happened to Kaoru because of him, he wouldn't forgive himself.

It has been a while since he has heard voices in his head, but the ex-hitokiri realized that he has somehow changed. The rurouni and the battousai persona were slowly merging together with his other persona, the darker and one who harbored wanton desire for Kaoru. It was the same one who nearly caused him to defile her when she was unconscious and the one demanded revenge for those who injured her. And because of the persona, he had become more selfish. He wanted Kaoru to feel the pain of them being separated because he felt it too.

He really wanted her to miss him.

"Here you are"

Sanosuke's words jolted him from his train of thought. He put the ribbon away. "Yes?"

Sanosuke pretended not to see the ribbon and brought out a tin of medicine instead. "Here, put Megumi's ointment on your injuries"

"Why don't you just give the tin to me and I will apply the ointment it later"

'_Sigh. Still no "sessha". But that makes him more like a man though_' "Nothing doing. I promised to her that I will make sure that your injuries are treated. And there's nothing going to stop me from trying to fulfill my promise to her. Not even the famous Hitokiri Battousai. Now, either you apply it by yourself now or let me do it"

Kenshin gave him a hard stare but Sanosuke wasn't backing down. After a while, his gaze softened. "I'll do it" He took the ointment and applied it on his injuries. The Takani family was well known for its medicines and the ointment's effect on the injuries stopped short of being miraculous. All the while Kenshin applied the ointment, his friend watched on, reminding him whenever he missed a spot. At last Kenshin was finished and handed back the tin to Sanosuke, thanking him.

Sano shook his head. "It was nothing. Just remember that I'm your friend, Kenshin" He put his hands on the balcony, taking in the view. All of us are. And we're not here to hinder you" He smiled at Kenshin and walked away.

When he was far from Kenshin, Sano broke into a grin. _'Yosha. I get to keep the two tins to myself. Now I can add them to my collection' _His eyes widened. What was he thinking? Since when collecting things from Megumi became his hobby? An image of her laughing foxily appeared unbidden in his mind. "WAAAHHHHHHH!" he shouted as he run along the corridor. "I'M NOT FALLING FOR HER"

Inside his room, Aoshi was writing a letter to Misao, informing her to resume control of Tokyo's while he would remain in Kyoto in wake of the new development. He was about to finish writing his letter, when he heard Sanosuke running and shouting outside of his room. He didn't react to it and instead, continued to write.

"_Misao-chan, as the situation is becoming more dangerous, please make sure that none of our agents indulge in sake drinking. We cannot afford them being drunk and losing their heads in the middle of a battle. _

_Take care, _

_Aoshi_

_

* * *

_

Yahiko was deep asleep, so he didn't notice when a bokken lifted his futon cover. He didn't even notice when Kaoru's hand lift him by his gi's collar. Even the swaying caused by her walking while carrying him didn't give any effect, except causing his drool to fall on the floor. He only woke up when he was tossed into the cold bath.

"AIIEEEEE! SOOOOO COOOLLLLDDDD!"

"Good to have you awake, Yahiko"

"Why did you do that for, you old hag!" Yahiko demanded, briefly forgetting about Kaoru's weird behavior for the past few days.

"Waking you up"

"Waking me up? Why?"

"Training"

"Training?" Yahiko asked, dumbfounded.

"You're already late for your training"

"Aaah" He eyed her suspiciously. It was the first time he has heard her telling him to train since Kenshin left.

Kaoru grabbed him out of the bath and shook him up to loosen the water. "Go and change into your uniform" Upon seeing that he was still there, she continued, "We have to go there before it's too hot to practice"

"Huh? There?"

"GO!"

* * *

Yahiko looked at the woman in front of her with disappointment. When Kaoru mentioned training, he expected hours of exhilarating practice session, with a new attack or two thrown in. The young samurai always wondered about the aerial attack she had performed that day. But when she didn't stop at any of the dojos they passed through, he began to feel some misgiving. Yet, he didn't say anything. And not even a pip came out when Kaoru stopped near a rocky hill. But when she spread out a cloth and began taking out food from the bag she was carrying, Yahiko couldn't keep quiet anymore. "When are we going to train? I don't follow you to go on a picnic"

"OK, go get some pebbles with different sizes and weight"

Muttering, Yahiko did as he was told.

"You hold out your forefinger and middle finger like this"

Following her, he made a V sign using his hand.

Kaoru looked at the pebbles he had brought and settled on one that was twice as big as his thumb. "Now lift that one"

He tried, and managed to lift it as high as his knees before it slipped from his two fingers. He cursed. "How come this stone is heavy?"

"The stone contain iron, the stuff they used to make a sword" Kaoru gestured around the place. "This place was popular among sword makers during the war. Try again, and no cursing this time"

Yahiko tried again, this time barely managing to hold it. He grinned to her only to scowl when she flicked it away. "Do you KNOW how hard it is to do that?"

"I know. You should practice so that you can hold it securely between your two fingers" Kaoru looked at Yahiko's incredulous look and sighed. Yahiko was an eager and quick learner when it came to kendo, but only when he was shown why it was necessary to do certain practice. "All right, try to hit me with your bokken as hard as you can, and if you can hit me, I'll treat you to Akabeko for a week"

He eyed her suspiciously, "Get your bokken then"

"No need" She gestured for him to attack. "If you fail, you will do this training for a week with questioning me again"

Yahiko run toward her and attacked, slashing horizontally as fast and hard as he could. Then he remembered that he was attacking her injured part and tried to stop the attack but it was too late to do so. He closed his eyes, expecting to hear the sound of his bokken making contact with the spot. The young student was surprised to hear none. He opened his eyes to Kaoru has stopped his bokken by gripping it using her forefinger and middle finger, like pair of chopsticks. He stared at it and then looked at her. It became evident to him why he must do the training. "I understand now. Thank you, Kaoru"

Kaoru didn't answer him as she was in a state of shock.

_A young Kaoru smiled at her father. _

"_Father, I have managed to hold the weight between my two fingers"_

"_Good. Now try holding another one using your other fingers" _

"_You promised me to teach a new technique"_

"_Patience, hime. In order to learn it, you must have a very strong grip on the bokken"_

"_I wanna learn!"_

"_If you can hold the weights between your fingers securely, I'll teach you_"

"KAORU!"

Kaoru blinked and looked at Yahiko. "What is it?"

"The purpose of the training is to allow me to catch a sword between my fingers, right?"

"Yes, but you must be very skillful before trying that" After saying that, she immediately feel guilty as that wasn't the real reason for the training. It was supposed to strengthen his fingers so that his grip would be strong. She wanted to correct it, but upon seeing Yahiko has already started training she stopped. It was better to just leave things as they were. She will have the chance to tell him later.

Kaoru watched as Yahiko keep practicing for more than an hour. She had promised Megumi that she would stop practicing for at least two days so that her injuries would heal properly. The foxy doctor earlier threatened to follow her wherever she goes unless she promised her. Kaoru would have ignored her, but knew that the doctor was needed in Tokyo clinic.

Yahiko shouted proudly, "Look. I have held the stone for more than three minutes"

She shook her head as the stone fell from his grip. "Why don't you rest and eat?"

The boy thought about it and took a place beside her. He proceeded to take an onigiri slowly. He then looked at her.

Kaoru hung her head and said in a slow voice, "Don't worry. Megumi prepared it before she left this morning. I can't have you suffer from food poisoning"

Yahiko felt very guilty. He wanted to change the topic fast. "How long did you practice to master the sword grabbing technique?"

"Mastering the basics took me two months; I think that maybe you can master it in two weeks"

"Really!"

"Really?" _'After all, you are more talented that I am'_ She smiled wanly.

"It's a very useful technique" Yahiko was thoughtful. "But I see it can be useless against slashing wind attack like Tobi Izuna that freak whathisname used"

'_Slashing wind!'_ The onigiri from Kaoru's hand fell to the ground.

_Kaoru ran as fast her legs would take her, wanting to catch up to her father. She has been unconscious for more than an hour because of his punch, but she was fortunate that one of his father's friends saw where he was headed. Kaoru took off in that direction, armed with a bokken slung to her back._

_She entered the forest, with slight hesitation at first. But she pressed on, trusting her instinct. After more than half an hour making her way through the thick undergrowth, she finally felt his ki. She quickened her pace. After a few minutes more, she finally reached an outskirt of a clearing. From the distant, she could make out a man being surrounded by more than 30 armed samurais. Then it happened. _

"_Hou'ou Zankaze!"_

_She was stunned by the immense ki the user released. But despite her paralysis, she could see the attack very clearly. There were so many slashing wind attacks that everyone on the field couldn't evade the attack. But as sudden as they came, the winds stopped. Then one by one the attackers fell to the ground, their bodies bloodied. To her shock, Kaoru saw a person she knew among them._

"_FATHER!" _

"HEY! ARE YOU ALL RIGHT!"

Kaoru gasped, trying to force air into her lungs. She put her hands on the ground to support herself.

"Kaoru? Are you okay?" Yahiko asked worriedly.

She nodded tiredly.

* * *

1

* * *

** Author's note (10 June 2006)**

1. Well, at least I managed to upload a chapter. To tell you honestly, I've already pictured this kind of scene when I started the story. Heck, some of the scenes are easy to do. But the others... shudder. Everything, from Kaoru's past, the person Shingo saw killing Orochi's man, Kenshin's dark persona, all of them are converging.


	28. Chapter 27

Kaoru stood by her parents' grave silently. It was the first time she visit them since Kenshin had left. She could have prayed at the altar at home, but somehow she felt that she needed to be there.

Normally, whenever she visits her parents' tombs, she would always tell them stories about people around her, from Yahiko wetting his bed to Sanosuke's luck being worse than her cooking. But the story she always told was about a man with red hair and cross shaped scar, what he liked, how he lived his life and how he made her happy by staying at dojo. Ironically, it was one of the reasons why Kaoru didn't visit her parents' graveyards; she didn't know what to say anymore.

But, that day, she didn't have to say very much. What she needed was just to be there, by their sides. Kaoru didn't want to tell stories, but rather she want to know one. A story about what really happen the day her father left to fight in the war. Or did she? Her thoughts traveled to the day before, thinking about what the flashes she saw while training Yahiko. She had finally remembered a bit about what happened the day when her father left the house to fight in the Seinan war.

Her father had knocked her out when she tried to stop him from leaving. Kaoru woke up an hour later. Trying to search for him, she set out with a shinai strapped to her back. It was not very hard to find out in where her father was headed as Koshijiro Kamiya was very well known and respected man in Tokyo.

Following his trails, she entered the forest outside of Tokyo. Ignoring the dense undergrowth, she kept moving, not sure whether her father was using the same route or not. But, she was sure about one thing. She wanted to catch up to her father and asked him to go home with her. Failing so, she will stay at his side.

When she had finally caught up with him, she bore witness to the most shocking and frightening scene whereby her father fell under a stranger's sword. Maybe her father was right in not allowing her to follow him. It was so shocking that she had mentally blocked it from her memory for a long time!

Now, with the memory awakened, she wondered what happened that day and her father's involvement with the group that fought with the lone swordsman. Was the man somehow related to Orochi? Her father did say he was working with the government to help quell the upcoming rebellion.

But deep inside, Kaoru knew that she and her father were somehow connected to the swordsman. The attack he executed seemed a bit familiar. If that was the case, was he one of her father's former students?

Kaoru kneeled down and put a hand on her father's tombstone. She wondered about what she wanted to say to her father. Should she ask about who he really was? If he was with the other swordsmen, why were they attacking the lone warrior? Or should she ask about what she would do with what she remembered?

She closed her eyes. There were a lot of things happening to her that she didn't know what to do. _'Kenshin. I wish you're here. You will know what to do'_

"Here you are! Mou, I've been searching all Tokyo for you"

Kaoru turned her head. Megumi was standing with arms crossed, tapping her foot impatiently.

"Yahiko's been acting like a chicken that lost its head, running around searching for you"

Despite the feeling melancholic just a moment before, Kaoru giggled. "I did say to him that I'm going to someplace and for him not to worry"

"I told him that you probably had some errands to do and not to worry. But you know Yahiko, always pretending to be though on the exterior..." Megumi said, flicking a hair haughtily.

"Sorry for making you worry"

"I wasn't worried at all" Despite her relaxed appearance, Megumi was relieved at finding her friend. She too had been worried when Yahiko approached him and told her about Kaoru's disappearance. She moved next to the kneeling girl. "Your parents'?"

Kaoru nodded before starting to offer a prayer.

Megumi waited patiently for her to finish. "Let's go home"

"Hai" She stood and gave Megumi a smile. They started to walk away from the place when a thought occurred to her. "Megumi"

"Hmm?"

"How do you manage to do it?"

"Do what?"

Kaoru took a deep breath, swallowing a lump in her throat. "How do you manage to stay strong? You've been through a lot but yet you don't let your past bother you"

Megumi smiled. "Who says that I'm strong?"

* * *

Kenshin knocked on Aoshi's room. 

"Come in"

He entered the room. Aoshi was reading a document while marking on a map of Japan. The leader of Oniwabanshuu nodded toward a seat before resuming his work.

"Please have a seat""

Kenshin did as he was told and sat in front of him.

"How may I help you, Himura?"

"I would like to know the security situation in the major cities"

Aoshi stopped his work, a sign that the question had surprised him. He looked at Kenshin, thinking about why he was asking such question. He could have asked Yamagata for it if he wanted to know about the distribution of the security force. Then he remembered Sanosuke coming to his room to ask about the situation in Tokyo. He finally understood Kenshin's motive for coming to him. "According to Misao, there was a large movement of army from Tokyo moving toward here, and I assume that he will attack Kyoto in order to capture and use it as a base" He stopped for a moment to watched Kenshin for some reaction before continuing, "Despite that, I have asked Misao to stay in Tokyo in case something happen"

"I see"

"Is that what you wanted to know?"

Kenshin's eyes twitched. He understood very well what Aoshi had implied with the question, but there's no way he'll admit that he wanted to know whether Kaoru was safe or not. "I just want to know the current situation, that's all. Thank you for your time"

"Not at all," Aoshi said, not wanting to pursue the question anymore. "We will meet at 8.00 tonight to discuss on what we will do to fight Orochi"

"Understood"

* * *

Yamagata examined everyone that was present in the room slowly, going from one to another, like a general inspecting his men before going to battle. He was the general of Japanese army, after all, and most of the men there were his. He didn't even know how to begin telling them the importance of the mission that they will carry out. The mission that will determine whether the country will maintain its fragile peace. The mission that end any possibility of civil war. The mission that will determine the future of Japan. Despite being a war veteran, Yamagata didn't know how to start the briefing. 

"Can we start now? I haven't any food since lunch time and I'm hungry"

Yamagata looked at the one called at Sanosuke and sighed. "Shinomori-san?"

Aoshi nodded. "Thank you, Yamagata-san"

**_The room where they were assembled was dimly lit, giving off a secretive aura. Orochi stood regally in the center of it, facing his men, the arms dealer and his lackeys. "Let us begin"_**

Aoshi tapped at the map using a stick. "As you all know, we're currently at a stalemate"

**_Some of the people were nodding. Orochi continued, "That's why we have to carry out a decisive attack"_**

"According to the information collected by the Oniwabanshuu, there was a large movement toward here, Kyoto"

"_**The enemy would no doubt found out about our movement and has prepared accordingly"**_

"We believe that they may be aiming to capture Kyoto"

"**_Tokyo is well defended with most of the government troop already stationed there. So we must conquer Kyoto so that it can be used as a base to launch an attack on the capital"_**

"However, we receive reports that they will also execute simultaneous political assassination to instigate chaos among the public throughout Japan. The likely targets are governors and administrative officials"

"**_The attack will be carried out by mercenaries and other ninja groups that have come under our payroll, using the weapons Shingo and Neuwindst took from the weapon depot. Unfortunately, Shingo has fallen while performing his duty. But don't worry. We will make sure that his sacrifice is not in vain," Orochi said to a chorus of people shouting their agreement. _**

Aoshi stopped briefly. "The whole of the police force will be mobilized to stop them, including those in the reserve"

"_**Despite the government using most of its personnel to stop the assassinations from taking place, they will probably assemble a group of trained warriors to try to stop our attack"**_

"That's why you are here, to stop Orochi's attack"

"**_They will fail and fall"_**

"We believe the attack will be launched two days from now as they will want to take advantage of the annual meeting in Tokyo"

"_**They will be prepared for us, as we are prepared to defeat them"**_

"We will concentrate on Kyoto's attack"

"**_We will attack from the southeast, as that will give an advantage of terrain"_**

"As you all know, the group are armed with modern weapons, probably even modern than what we have"

"_**But they have the advantage of numbers"**_

"They even have cannon, machine guns and rockets. And unlike the attack by Shishio, they'll probably bombard the town first"

"**_They will expect us to do that. But that will be their mistake. We will bombard the town, but it would be for psychological effect. We cannot destroy too much of the infrastructure if we want to use the town as our base. Once we free the town, the residents will see that our fight is the true path and they will join us willingly. With their help, we will free other towns"_**

"I believe that the best way to defeat them and save Kyoto from the attack is by attacking them first. We will mount a surprise attack. That way we will be able to minimize loss to our side"

"_**That is why a group of us will be going ahead of the others in order to scour for possible enemy ambush"**_

"I will go" Every person in the room changed their attention to Kenshin.

Sanosuke who was next to him grinned. "Count me in" He turned toward Saitou. "How about you, Ahou (fool)?"

Saitou grunted, "I suppose I'll have to be there to ensure Tori Atama doesn't get himself skewered like the last time," Aoshi nodded and turned toward Yamagata. "I will go too,"

"**_I, Yuri, Ryo and few more Kensais will go. Neuwindst will provide us with covering fire in case the enemy is laying an ambush"_**

Aoshi showed toward a place on the map. "We will set up an ambush at this place. There's a clearing large enough for a small army. Orochi and his men will gather here before the attack"

**_Orochi turned toward Neuwindst. "The surrounding hills will be perfect for you to set up some artillery targeting the clearing" The blond foreigner gave a thumbs up. "You can count on me"_**

"Nevertheless, we must be very careful in our mission"

"**_We must succeed in this battle. With the Meiji recruiting more and more army, if we lost this battle, such an opportunity will be hard to come by"_**

"They are desperate, as they know this is their final chance to win; we're desperate too. The various problems that we faced have made our security weak"

"**_They will be like a cornered beast, and a cornered beast will fight savagely. We must show them that not only we can be more savage, but we can fight better and more intelligently"_**

Aoshi finished and paused before turning toward Yamagata, signaling him to take over. The general nodded and cleared his throat before addressing his men. "Do your best, to preserve the future of Japan"

"**_We will cleanse the corruptions and injustice plaguing our beloved Japan. Then, we shall carve a new era for it"_**

"YES!"

"**_For Orochi-sama!"_**

"Very well. From now one, we will refer to this mission by its name. The code for this mission is…"

"**_Henceforth, I announce a fitting name for our operation, which will be… "_**

"The spear of twilight"

"_**The blooming of the chrysanthemum"**_

The final battle for the future of Japan has just begun.

* * *

1

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**Author's note (6 July 2006)**

**1. **Hence, the hardest but the most crucial part of the story starts. At least, that's the case for me.

* * *


	29. Chapter 28

The police officer yawned loudly, while shifting his body so that he would feel comfortable leaning against the gate behind him. He gave a lazy look around the area. He and his partner had been stationed on guard for the last three nights and he was bored to death. Unlike his colleagues who no doubt were at home, or in some cases in the 'other house', the two of them were unfortunate enough to be selected for the guard detail.

"Don't let your guard down," the other man admonished, his breath creating a small mist in the cold weather. The man threw a log into the nearby fire. "We must be on guard at all times."

"Take it easy. The enemy isn't that foolish enough to go here. This is the outskirt of the town. Besides, didn't they say that the enemy will strike from the other far site, if they even attack at all?"

"That's no reason to slack."

"Yes. Yes. I understand."

The midnight wind blew and the second man had to hold his cap. "Strong wind, isn't it?" he commented.

"Yes," an unfamiliar voice replied from behind him. "Which is why you didn't hear the sound of your friend being taken down."

The sound of metal cutting through flesh was muffled by the wind and moments later, a second body fell to the ground.

The killer shook his kunai to clear the blood while his subordinates took the two policemen's bodies away. "Kenta, Haku," he called out and two person appeared from the shadow, wearing police uniform similar to the two who were slain. "The police patrol will go around in another hour so take the two's position. We don't want them to suspect anything. Should anything go wrong, I want you to ensure that the flares they were carrying would not be fired no matter what the cost so that they couldn't warn our enemy in time to stop Lord Orochi."

The man named Genta grinned and took the position of the first police officer. He pulled down his cap and pretended to yawn. "This will be so easy. I'll even pretend to snore as well."

* * *

"Shinomori."

Aoshi didn't turn at the man but instead keep gazing at the area map on the table. "What is it, Himura?"

"You're worried about the whole plan." Kenshin moved next to him. "That's why you keep looking at the map even though it's time for us to go."

"No. I'm not worried about the plan but I'm worried about the whole thing."

"What do you mean?"

"The battle that we will enter is an asymmetrical battle. It is not a simple clash of two armies so despite what Yamagata is thinking, normal military doctrine shouldn't apply to the situation." He then continued with his description. A symmetric battle involved two opposing factions that differed in organization and characteristics and as such victory couldn't be calculated by comparing their respective military strength.

"So you're saying that we're fighting a different battle with Orochi?"

"Yes. I only realized it just now. While my prediction still hasn't change in regards to the battle, I can only guess why he choose to settle this via a conventional warfare."

"But according to what we hear, he's using a lot of mercenaries and ninjas."

"No doubt but it is still a clash of our forces against theirs in a superiority match." Aoshi closed his eyes and let out a long breath. "If any, it would be reassuring if we have Phoenix on our side"

"Phoenix?"

"The legend of four Holy Beasts that guards Kyoto are being represented by four clans specializing in distinct sword styles: Tiger, Dragon, Phoenix and Serpent. Although I don't really understand the connection between Orochi and the turtle Genbu, it is noted in the archive that Oniwabanshuu has that two hundred years ago, Orochi's clan had been tasked to guard Kyoto's northern gate. That was the job the clan continued to uphold even as the other three clans moved away." He looked at Kenshin. "One of them specialized in Hiten Mitsugiryuu and the other sword style had been displayed by your stepbrother. In fact, it could be argued that if the three were still with the Shogunate, the Meiji restoration would fail."

"Wait. You mentioned about the Phoenix just now. Where is he?"

Before Aoshi could reply, an aide entered the room. "It's time."

Aoshi looked at Kenshin and nodded.

It would be the longest night.

* * *

Sojiro Seta pointed to himself. "Me?"

"Yes. Are you not Soujiro Seta, the former member of Juppongatana?" the swordsman in front of him asked.

The said man scratched his head. It would a bit troublesome if the man was one of the hunters the government had sent after him and he had to kill the man. After all, although he had yet to find the answer that he was searching for, he had come to like the village where he was at the moment, especially the pair of husband and wife that welcomed him into their modest home.

When he had stumbled across the village, half starved and suffering from the food poisoning caused by having eaten berries and leaves out of desperation, Seta had surrendered his fate and was prepared to die. However, the husband, a woodsman found him and brought him home where the wife nursed him back to health. He wanted to leave after he had recovered but the couple as well as their two children had persuaded him to put off his departure for at least another month.

In just a short while, he had become close to the family with the couple treating him like a son while the children called him as 'bamboo-oniisan', just like the tale of Princess Kaguya whose foster father found her inside a bamboo stalk.

Despite the rather strange name, Seta found himself drawn to them as well which is why he considered himself as being annoyed when the swordsman appeared, searching for him. It was fortunate that the swordsman found him away from the village as he didn't want any unnecessary damage to the place should anything happen.

"Yes. How can I help you?"

"I am Hitoki Shino, one of Lord Orochi kensais."

"I've heard about Orochi from Shishio-san. So how can I help you, Hitoki-san?"

Shino slowly unsheathed his sword. "Under Lord Orochi's order, I've been searching for you for a long time."

"What for?"

The swordsman didn't answer but instead attacked Seta at a very high speed that the latter would have been sliced into two had he not moved away. "I'm here to kill you as well as the family that housed you so that you will not interfere with his plan."

Seta slowly unsheathed his sword. What was the burning feeling inside him caused by that man's comment? Ah, it must have been anger. Anger because the man dare threaten his family. "I wouldn't forgive you if you don't retreat."

"Then show me your Shikuchi," Shino said before disappearing from view.

Seta brought up his sword to block the slash aimed at his head. His opponent smirked even though he had failed to kill him and then disappeared again. Not wanting to be on defensive, Seta counterattacked.

There were only footsteps and occasional clanging sounds as the two blade masters fought at high speed, with the loser being the person who made the first mistake.

Even as he focused on defeating his enemy, a small part of Seta wondered what was happening at the outside world.

* * *

"Fire the signal."

At his command, a signal flare gun was fired into the air, illuminating the place. There was a loud rumbling sound coming from a position in the back of his group; he smiled as the sound signified that the flare had been seen.

"Hello, Himura," he said conversationally as Kenshin's group appeared right in front of him. "Shinimori," he continued, nodding as the said man eyed him and then Yuri. "And of course the famed Mibu Wolf."

"Hey! How come you didn't mention me?!" Sanosuke demanded.

"Oh yes, not to forget you…" Orochi turned toward Yuri. "Who is he again?"

"Sagara Sanosuke, Sagara," Sano said, incensed at the slight.

"Tch… Rooster always crow and crow needlessly," Saitou said while throwing his cigarette. "Don't you know that he's trying to get a ruse from you?"

"You're no better if you think like that," Orochi said. "I wouldn't waste my time playing petty mind tricks against my opponents. Of course, I remember you, Sagara. Well, then, since it comes to this, why don't we play around a little bit?"

"What?" Sano said. "You can still say that even though you're surrounded?"

"By whom?" Orochi asked as the area around them was bombarded by artillery shells. "Are you referring to the detachment that is supposed to follow you here?" He chuckled.

"Damn you…" Sano seethed as he realized everything had been predicted by their enemy.

Kenshin took a step forward. "By purposely isolating this position… are you planning on settling everything here?"

"After all this planning? You're mistaken, Himura," the man said as he unsheathed his sword. "This is just beginning."

* * *

Misao clucked her tongue in annoyance. "Second team will handle engage the enemy spotted in the west. Third team will provide support. Seventh will aid with rescue mission while ninth will stand by." Behind her, Okon was busy placing markers on the Kyoto map. Unlike the fight against Shishio where the Kyoto inhabitants were less organized, this time the defense had been planned carefully by Aoshi. The current leader of Oniwabanshuu had made sure to reactivate and reenlist former members to help and had appropriately provided them with the necessary equipments.

The action by him was not in vain as the police force was in complete disarray. Their stations were taken out and their commanding officers had been targeted, they were rather hopeless in fighting against the mercenary ninjas under the employ of Orochi. Aoshi had explained that while Orochi himself didn't plan to destroy Kyoto, the ninjas were more likely raze the city to the ground.

He had explained to Misao that he believed Orochi wanted to turn Kyoto as the base to take over Japan. Thus, the man planned for the ninjas to create havoc in the city and if the plan succeeded, the man would come to save the city. It was a classic stratagem of 'creating something out of nothing' and given the mistrusts some of the Kyoto inhabitants had over the reformists, it was possible for Orochi's plan to succeed. Thus, Misao was tasked with ensuring that such plan would never work.

A runner barged into the room. "We detect smoke coming from a store in sector twenty," he said.

"Okon, lead the ninth to the sector and put out possible fire. Take Shiro there as well."

"Eh? Are you sure?"

"Okina would be coming in soon so the old coot can help me here. I need you there just in case there were enemy ninjas waiting to ambush the ninth team."

"Understood," Okon said she left the room.

Misao continued gazing at the map, looking over the details. She then snorted in annoyance. "If you want to backstab me, can you please do by not raising the kunai so high?" she asked the runner who was about to attack her from the rear. "I can't see the map clearly."

The runner jumped back and brought the kunai in front of him defensively. "You're just lucky that I made a little mistake."

The kunoichi turned toward him. "Lucky? It's more of you being incompetent." She and Okon knew from the very beginning that there was something wrong with the runner as he didn't really look out of breath while delivering important news that required urgent action. That meant that man didn't run to deliver the report; he probably want to save the energy to kill her. "Are you part of Orochi or just his hired lackeys."

"What difference is it going to make?" the man said while grinning murderously "You're going to die in just a moment." Before he could attack, there was a loud thwacking sound at the back of his head and the would-be assassin's eyes rolled upward as his body fell to the ground.

"You're late, you perverted old coot," Misao said.

The old man laughed. "Sorry," he apologized as he glanced at her left hand. "You might want to put that away so that we won't have his blood dirtying the room. It would be quite hard to get the stain off, you know."

The kunoichi smiled as she replaced the small kunai that she was holding. "You're right. Now, let's save Kyoto again!"

* * *

1

* * *

**Author's note (23 February 2010)**

1. Losing most of the story parts and bits is really a strong disincentive for me to write this story. But seeing that it's actually few more chapters to go, well, it's rather sad if I don't continue. But no promise though. Writing this chapter itself is very hard because I started from almost zero, unlike my other stories. As a result, the chapter is rather short but if I'm to compare with the chapters in ESA, it's pretty average.


	30. Chapter 29

As everyone fought around the two of them, Orochi smiled calmly at Kenshin. "How does it feel, knowing that you will lose, Himura Battousai?"

Kenshin slowly unsheathed his reverse edge sword, knowing that the other man wouldn't attack him until the time came. "We didn't lose against Shishio and tonight we wouldn't lose to you." He then slashed in front of him, cutting into two a bullet aimed at him. The former assassin then glanced at a spot at a hill a kilometer away.

"Sorry," Orochi apologised. "Neuwindst, my faction's weapon supplier had always suspected the extent of your skill. That is why he requested to attempt to snipe you from the position. That is the first and final attempt."

"Thank you," Kenshin said drolly.

"Really, I didn't worry," the other man said as he drew his own sword, "once we fight, it would be virtually impossible for the sharpshooter to get a good shot. Should we start?"

Kenshin held his sakabatou at a ready stance.

"Here I come," Orochi said as he faded from where he was standing and reappeared in front of Kenshin, his sword already swung halfway down.

There were sounds of metals clashing against each other as the two of them tried to outsmart each other with their own attacks, knowing very well that a mistake might mean their last.

Kenshin jumped in the air. "Ryutsuisen!" he cried out as he performed a downward slash.

"Gen'ei Kagami: Ryushosen!" His adversary countered with a bastardized version of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu.

As the two of them moved away after their respective attacks, the former Hitokira Battousai narrowed his eyes.

"It is as you suspected, Battousai," the other man confirmed upon seeing his look.

Hiko had drilled into his mind from early own that in order to master his sword he had to pay attention to three things: power, speed and techniques. The best kenjutsus would try to achieve a balance between the three. However, a kenjutsu that achieved that equilibrium meant that it would be average overall. Hence, Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu placed more emphasis into power. From their duels, Kenshin surmised that Enishi's Wattoujutsu was based on speedy attack.

"To us, mind is the sharpest sword ever. Just like Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu is a wind technique, the sword of Orochi Gen'ei Kagamiryu is the sword of water."

'And Wattoujutsu is probably influenced by fire.' Kenshin thought to himself. Apart from the emphasis on the three factors, each sword philosophy was also influenced by one of the elements from Go Dai, the Japanese elements heavily influenced by Buddhist beliefs. "And our swords is from the Chi aspect," he remarked.

"True. The earth will be paired with fire, wind or water, and the result of that is a void attack," Kenshin conjectured as his sword met Orochi's.

"Ah, I can see that you're not the master of your sword technique."

"What do you mean?" Kenshin demanded as the two clashed sword again.

"Perhaps you have yet to find out that as a swordsman, you must also master the fourth facet."

"There's a four?"

Orochi smiled even though his stab missed Kenshin's body. "That's why I know that you will lose. You didn't know about the fourth facets. And allow me to venture a guess that you think the combination of water and earth produces void attack because your sword technique is named 'dragon flying to the heaven'?"

Kenshin jumped away, allowing himself some time to collect his breath and at the same time process the information given to him. As Orochi remarked, he thought that his Sakabatou, together with the sword technique formed the void aspect. This was due to the fact that void, known as 'Ku' or 'Sora' could also mean sky or heaven, depending to the context. Hence, a dragon flying to the heaven could be understood as a sword attack that achieved the level of void.

"That's why I say you don't understand," Orochi said, seemingly knowing what he was thinking.

* * *

Sano grinned at the man in front of him while wiping of some blood of his face. "A rabbit indeed. You're that boy's teacher?"

"Yes. Tohno Shinji's the name, by the way. But right now I'm a wolf," the man said as he deflected Sano's futae no kiwame by slapping his hand away, effectively neutralizing his opponent from utilizing the single-hand and the two-hand versions of that attack. "If you think you can defeat me with that half-assed technique you learned from that monk."

"What are you saying?"

The man moved back a bit and then punch the ground in front him.

Sano watched as the ground cracked in due to the force of the punch and began spreading toward him. He raised his hands just in time to block his body as the ground in front of him exploded and sprayed him with rocks and gravel. But that was a ruse as he felt the ground burst once again with a stronger force, with the explosive power hurling him into the air while the fragments showered on his body. As he sailed through the air, he could see the man reared his other fist and punched the ground. Another explosion propelled him further, injuring him further before and was followed the third and the last blast.

The crash to the ground didn't really hurt compared to the triple attacks.

Sano staggered to stand while trying to analyze the attack. The man had basically performed an attack similar to Futae no Kiwami, but instead of opening his hand for the second impact, he only punched once. "You varied the force release of the punch so that it would come out in two phase."

Shinji shrugged.

It looked like Sano was correct. However, what could he do against someone that mastered such a complex technique?

"The brat tried to use the fang technique against you," the man said. "Without knowing well how to use it correctly." He smiled and held out a hand. "But I'm different than him."

Sano spat, ignoring the blood intermixed with his saliva.

* * *

The resulting explosion pebbled Saito and his opponents but both didn't take their attention away from each other. Both of them were breathing heavily as their injuries were beginning to tax their endurance. If anything, Saito felt a bit excited. It had been quite a while since he fought an opponent who used piercing attacks similar to ones he used. If he didn't know better, he would have pegged the man as using Gatotsu.

"This is Gatotsu," the man said suddenly, as if knowing what was going on inside his mind. "At least the bastardized version of it. I hope you don't mind."

"I don't." Unlike Himura, Saito didn't care about clashing sword techniques; to him, all that mattered was destroying evil quickly even if the said evil was using a similar technique.

The man gestured at someone. "Look like your tall friend had been defeated."

The former Wolf of Mibu didn't need to look in the same direction to know that Himura's sidekick had been defeated by his opponent. "He can die for all I care," he said as he settled into an attack stance. "And since you really care about it, I'll send you after him," he said as he launched his attack.

* * *

Aoshi looked at the unconscious Sanosuke before turning his attention at the man who defeated the street fighter. The man named Tohno was sitting around, watching other fights as if he had nothing else to do. Oh, the man did taunt other people to attack him now and then but seeing that he easily dispatched Sano spoke volume of his capability. The Okashiraa of the Oniwabanshuu wondered why he felt that something was very wrong. He stared at Yuri.

His former second-in-command shrugged and slowly moved toward him. "Very well, I will fight with you,"

* * *

Karl Neuwindst watched the fight from his binocular. Everything was going according to his plan. He had successfully caused Shingo's death when he predicted the man would shield him from his own sniper. As he had suspected, without Shingo, Orochi was nothing and could be fooled easily. Now that the two forces had managed to inflict damage on each other, it was time for him to change allegiance from Orochi to his favorite side: gold.

He didn't lie when he said that Orochi's success would spur his own fortune nor did he skimp on the weapons he had provided. After all, his rather good reputation would allow him get such a lucrative business from Orochi. However, he wasn't stupid enough to put all eggs inside the basket: there was a very small chance of Orochi actually winning the war in a single strike. Instead, he predicted that Orochi would succeed at causing massive unrests all over Japan.

And massive unrests would cause revolts and rebellions; both require weapons that he would happily supply. After he had ensure that a particular faction would win, which not necessarily be Orochi's group, he would throw his full support behind it, only to betray it again when another opportunity arose.

Neuwindst could help but feel proud of himself and his business acumen.

Then he noticed the blade being lightly pressed against his neck as well as the fact that his guns had become silent.

"Orochi-sama would like to thank you for all you did."

"Wha…" Neuwindst managed to croak as he lost control of his body functions and his pants became drenched.

"He also wished to convey the fact that he knew that you were the one responsible for Shingo-sama's death as well your plan to betray him."

"How?"

"From the initial meeting he had predicted accurately your every move, including your attempt to kill Shingo-sama. Despite that he was willing to try and trust you by assigning Shingo to you. You see, if you left Shingo-sama alone, we wouldn't be having this conversation, but you didn't so here I am."

Neuwindst's eyes widened as the ramification of what he had done hit him. By taking out Shingo, he had signed off his own death warrant. "Wait… let me go and I can offe…"

His sentence was never finished as a flick of a wrist severed his head from the body.

* * *

Aoshi jumped away from Yuri, his suspicion increasing. Yes, the two of them traded attacks with the intent to kill but he could feel that something was wrong with Yuri's attacks. It was as if she was… she was being conservative in her attacks. It wasn't because he was more skilled compared to her; it was something else. It was then he found the answer to what was bothering him.

Yuri caught his expression and smiled as she put away her weapons. "Your call now, Okashiraa."

Despite his calm façade, Aoshi felt despair creeping inside him. He and everyone else had fallen into the enemy's trap. Orochi's real target wasn't to raze Kyoto to the ground; the man should have another objective, one bigger than that. But what would the man hope to achieve knowing very well that he, Himura, Saito and the rest would be there to intercept him. He looked at Yuri again and it was then he understood everything.

Apart from his close followers, no one could really ascertain the identity of Orochi. However, when the man, under Yuri's suggestion, attacked Okina, he had been identified by Aoshi as well as Misao who was following him at that time.

However, the man he thought was Orochi, the very same man who was fighting against Himura at the moment, was not the real Orochi. The real Orochi, whoever that person may be, had planned the attack so that Aoshi identified the wrong man as him and thus leading everyone into the current trap they were in. "Damn!" he cursed.

"Orochi-sama and I knew you would find out immediately, but you know, it's okay because now it's too late. Even if you managed to kill all of us, he will still win in the end."

There was only one way Orochi could achieve victory despite having all his men killed in Kyoto.

"Yes," Yuri nodded. "Tokyo."

The gathering of leaders in Tokyo; if Orochi managed to assassinate them, the whole country would be thrown in anarchy.

"You have lost," the woman said softly.

Aoshi never felt the kodachis dropped from his hands. All of his preparations, his planning, everything was for naught.

Then something hit him: a strong surge of sword ki from somewhere quite far away, a ki strong enough that it was unfathomable. It seemed that he wasn't the only person who felt it. Every expert fighter on the field could feel it. Those who had fought in the previous war recognized the similarity of the ki with the one felt during the Takamori revolt. However, only Yuri knew the words to describe it.

"_Yume no Shiyotaka Tsubasa."_

_

* * *

_

1

* * *

**Author's note (29 September 2010)**

1. The final battle and another few more chapters left before the end.

2. For those wondering, Orochi mentioned the fourth facet that Kenshin had missed. It was soul. In fact, Hiten mitsugiryu's ougi hinged on the strength of the soul. Also, while Kenshin had correctly figured out that earth element (the sword) would be paired with the wind, water and fire elements, he was mistaken in assuming that the the attack formed was of void nature. The truth is Yume no Shiyotaka Tsubasa is the real void based sword technique which would be paired with 'earth' element which is why Orochi knew that Kenshin wasn't the actual master of Hiten Mitsugiryu for not knowing about the real combination.


End file.
